The Relationship Between Diabetes and Your Dental Health

You may have wondered why dentists ask about your medical history (especially diabetes, blood pressure, etc.) when performing a dental exam. This is because a systemic disease like diabetes will affect your dental health and your recovery after treatment. And it is important to know if you have diabetes in order to properly diagnose your dental problems.

What is Diabetes?

Before we look at the effects of diabetes on oral health, it’s important to understand what diabetes is. When we eat, our digestive system breaks it down into sugars and starches, which are absorbed into our bloodstream from our small intestine. The purpose of getting these sugars into our bloodstream is to transport them to various parts of our body so that our cells can absorb them for energy. This absorption is facilitated by a hormone called insulin.

Let’s examine some of the common dental problems associated with diabetes.

Gum disease:

One of the most common consequences of diabetes is gum disease. Diabetes reduces the body’s ability to fight bacteria. If plaque builds up around your teeth and is not removed by regular brushing and flossing, the millions of bacteria in plaque can cause swelling and inflammation of the gums, leading to a condition called gingivitis. Gingivitis is an early form of gum disease and can be easily treated if oral hygiene is restored.

However, if diabetes is left untreated and plaque is not removed, gum disease can lead to further loss of bone and supporting structures around the teeth. This condition is called periodontitis, and can eventually lead to loose teeth and tooth loss.

Tooth decay:

In diabetes, blood sugar levels are high. This increases the amount of bacteria in your mouth. The buildup of acids and bacteria can cause tooth decay. Therefore, a person with diabetes may have a higher incidence of tooth decay.

Oral aphthae:

Germs such as bacteria and fungi always have the opportunity to infect tissues when sugar levels are high. This is a common condition in diabetes. For this reason, individuals with diabetes sometimes also experience a fungal infection called oral thrush or candidiasis. Thrush appears as red or white patches on the tongue or oral mucosa.

Dry Mouth:

Dry mouth, or xerostomia, is a condition in which the mouth is depleted of saliva, resulting in a dry mouth. Having enough saliva in the mouth cleans the teeth and gums, and a lack of saliva can lead to tooth decay and gum disease.

Diabetes has significant oral manifestations that can sometimes require treatment such as scaling and root planing, or in more severe cases, flap surgery. However, it is important to first control blood sugar levels and diabetes with medication.