Periodontitis and type II diabetes link stronger in men

A stronger link between periodontitis and type II diabetes has been found in men.

Those with diabetes are three times more likely to develop periodontitis than those without the disease – but research said the link ‘was not present in women’.

Researchers noted that this was due to women generally having healthier oral hygiene behaviours than men.

‘Dental providers need not only be aware of whether their patients have diabetes or not, but also need to use gender-based approaches for those patients who are diabetic and obese,’ wrote the authors, led by Ying Liu, an assistant professor in the department of biostatistics and epidemiology at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City.

The researchers analysed data between 2009 and 2014 from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in the US, which included dentate persons aged 30 and older.

According to a report from Drbicuspid.com: ‘The presence of type II diabetes remained significantly associated with moderate to severe periodontitis in men but not women after statistical adjustments for BMI, health insurance, and dental behaviors.’

‘Findings from the current study support the heightened importance of both self-management of diabetes and home oral hygiene to prevent or slow the progress of periodontal disease, especially in males with diabetes,’ the authors wrote.

The study was published in the International Dental Journal in May 2018.

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