PURPOSE:
This study aimed to investigate the effects of
oral hygiene care by oral professionals on periodontal
health in
type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. MATERIALS AND
METHODS:
Diabetic participants were recruited at a
university hospital and matched at a 11 ratio by age and
gender, and randomly allocated into intervention (40 people) and
control groups (35 people).
Tooth brushing instruction,
oral health education, and supra-gingival scaling were implemented in all
patients at baseline. This program was repeatedly conducted in intervention
patients every month for 6 months, and twice at baseline and the sixth month in the control.
Oral health was measured by
decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT), plaque index,
calculus index,
bleeding index,
patient hygiene performance (PHP) index,
tooth mobility, Russel's
periodontal index, and
community periodontal index (CPI). Diabetes-related factors, oral and
general health behaviors, and
sociodemographic factors were interviewed as other confounding factors. An
analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used with SPSS for Windows 14.0.
RESULTS:
At baseline, there were no significant differences between the two groups in average of periodontal
health (
calculus index,
bleeding index, Russel's
periodontal index, CPI, and
tooth mobility), diabetes-related factors (
fasting blood glucose, postprandial
blood glucose, and HbA1c), and in distribution of
sociodemographic factors and
health behaviors. In intervention group, plaque index,
dental calculus index,
bleeding index, and PHP index were reduced fairly and steadily from the baseline. There were significant differences in plaque index,
dental calculus index,
bleeding index, PHP index, and Russel's
periodontal index between the two groups at sixth month after adjusted for baseline status.
CONCLUSION:
Intensive
oral hygiene care can persistently improve oral
inflammation status and could slow periodontal deterioration.