Key Takeaways

• The link between type 2 diabetes and periodontitis was bidirectional in a retrospective cohort study of a representative sample of Taiwanese adults older than 40 years of age who were followed for 15 years.
• The rate of incident type 2 diabetes significantly increased in those patients who had periodontitis and then compared to those without periodontitis. Also, in the same population during the same observation period, people who had type 2 diabetes also had a significantly increased rate of developing periodontitis compared to those without diabetes.

Why This Matters

• The incidence of type 2 diabetes actually constitutes a pandemic, while periodontal disease is the world’s most prevalent inflammatory disease with almost 800 million cases of severe periodontitis on record worldwide in 2017.
• Some earlier reports documented bidirectionality between these two conditions, but those earlier findings were inconsistent.

Study Design

• The study used data collected in Taiwan’s Longitudinal Health Insurance Research Database from 2000-2015. This database includes a random sample of about 1 million beneficiaries, roughly 5% of the Taiwanese population.
• Researchers found 11,011 people with incident periodontitis during the study period who then underwent treatment for their disease, and an age, sex, and index-date matched a group of 11,011 people who had incident periodontitis during the study period and did not receive treatment. In addition, they also identified a third group of 11,011 matched individuals who did not develop periodontitis during the study period. All three groups excluded those with diabetes during the 2 years before 2000 or prior to the diagnosis of periodontitis in 2000-2015, as well as those who were younger than 40 years old in 2000.

Continue Reading The Full Article:
The Periodontitis–Diabetes Link Goes Both Ways