Periodontal disease severity-correlation with diabetes and obesity measures?

• Main Author: Jassam, Mina
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: Dentistry; Diabetes; Obesity; Periodontal disease
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/2144/15096

This paper studies the correlation between three widely common chronic diseases, periodontal disease, diabetes, and obesity. The three diseases share one key factor; they not only affect human's health but also the style and quality of life. This paper evaluated the current literature regarding periodontal disease, diabetes, obesity, and their triangular relationship. The studies showed that the three chronic diseases are related to each other in a triangular relationship. Increased adiposity manifested by BMI greater than 30, leads to increased systemic inflammation through the release of inflammatory adipokines from the fatty deposits, this leads to the development of diabetes mellitus by different mechanisms, partly by destruction of the islet cells of Langerhans and partly by insulin resistance. One of the complications of diabetes mellitus is periodontal disease, which is a list of clinical conditions that adversely affect the health of the periodontium. Moreover, current literature provides evidence that the relationship between diabetes and periodontal disease is bidirectional. Evidence from current studies is showing that periodontal disease might lead to the development of diabetes by increasing the systemic inflammation, this occurs by the invasion of periodontal pathogens of the endothelial cells where they elicit an exacerbated systemic inflammation which might lead to the development of diabetes and other chronic conditions. This paper shows the importance of collaborative work between the dental and the medical professionals to ensure the overall health of an individual. Primary care physicians are encouraged to refer patients with poor glycemic control to dentists for an assessment of the health of their oral cavity and vice versa; dentists should be more aware of the systemic complications of oral diseases and should educate their patients about such relationships.