Diabetes and Oral Health: The Importance of Oral Health-Related Behavior (Research) (Report‪)‬

Introduction Diabetes mellitus is a chronic debilitating disease that is gaining ground as a global epidemic, and is a major public health concern and economic burden in the U.S. (1,2) According to the statistics provided by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, 23.6 million U.S. citizens have diabetes and 57 million adults aged 20 years and older have pre-diabetes, resulting in a total of 80.6 million U.S. citizens who were either diagnosed as diabetic or pre-diabetic. (3) Given the potential for severe oral health complications of diabetes and the steady increase in the incidence of the disease, it is crucial to understand the role of dental hygienists in this context. (4,5) This study shows that patients diagnosed with diabetes do indeed have poorer oral health than patients that were not diagnosed with diabetes, and investigates whether there are differences in the oral health-related behavior of these 2 groups of patients. Finally, this study demonstrates the importance of oral health promotion efforts for the oral health of patients with diabetes by comparing the oral health status of patients with diabetes and of patients not diagnosed with diabetes.