People with diabetes twice as likely to lose teeth
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- Published: Thursday, 10 December 2015 08:44
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A new study, from Duke University researchers, reveals that people with diabetes lose twice as many teeth as those without the condition. It shows that while tooth loss has dropped overall in the US over the past 40 years, people with diabetes remain much more vulnerable. Black Americans with diabetes are especially likely to lose teeth. American Dental Association spokesperson Dr. Edmond Hewlett said the study sheds light on two issues that ‘are important and timely public health concerns’.
The study authors analysed data on more than 37,000 individuals who were examined between 1971 to 2012 from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to learn about tooth loss trends among U.S. adults. "They did indeed find there was a clear connection between tooth loss and diabetes, especially among African Americans," said American Dental Association spokesperson Dr. Edmond Hewlett.
He said "One is the connection between oral health and overall health. This is something we've been aware of, but this gives additional strong evidence about that. And the other big thing is health disparities -- the rate at which some diseases can affect some racial or ethnic groups more than others," said Hewlett, who is also a professor at the UCLA School of Dentistry.
Hewlett said diabetes can put patients at more risk for gum disease and eventually tooth loss, but that it works the other way around, too. "Gum disease can also complicate diabetes and make it more difficult to manage. Then let's layer on the access to care issue that some patients face. There's other good evidence showing African Americans have lower access to dental care," he said.
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