Clinical research on correlation between periodontitis and diabetes

Objective To investigate the correlation between periodontitis and diabetes in the elderly patients.Methods We divided 120 patients with chronic periodontitis and diabetes into 3 groups according to their blood glucose levels;their community periodontal index of treatment needs(CPITN) were calculated and the num- ber of missing teeth was observed.Then we randomly divided the patients into another 3 groups:Group A received treatment for both periodontitis and diabetes,Group B received treatment only for periodontitis and Group C received treatment only for diabetes.The clinical outcomes of patients in the three groups were assessed one month after treatment.Results The CPITN in patients with blood glucose higher than 7.0 mmol/L was significantly lower than those in the other 2 groups(P0.05 and P0.01 ).The number of missing teeth in patients with blood glucose higher than 11.0 mmol/L was significantly more than those of other patients (all P0.05 ).The curative rate for periodontitis in group A was better than that in group B(P0.05 ).Conclusion There is a correlation between periodontitis and diabetes and the treatment of them influences each other.(Shanghai Med J, 2007,30:837-839)