The prevalence of dental caries in diabetic patients of Sheshdeh Qarebolaq

Diabetes is a metabolic disease which is diagnosed by an abnormal increase in blood glucose. The disease can have destructive effects on various body organs, such as mouth and teeth. Dental caries is a local progressive dental destruction.
This research aimed to investigate the prevalence of dental carries in diabetics and to determine the relationship between diabetes and dental carries in Sheshdeh Qarebolaq region of Fasa County, Fars, Iran.
This cross–sectional study was conducted on 130 diabetic patients. The study data were collected using a questionnaire including the patient's demographic characteristics, educational level, and hygiene status. The number of carious and remained teeth and plaque index of the patients were recorded, as well. Oleary Plaque Index was measured by disclosing agents. The plaque index less than 20%, between 30% and 60%, and over 70% was considered as good, average, and bad oral hygiene, respectively.
In this study, the prevalence of dental caries in the diabetic patients was 43% and the prevalence of tooth loss was 69%. The results of this research revealed a significant relationship between the level of education and the patient's number of remained teeth; such a way that as the level of education increased, the number of remained teeth increased, as well (P=0.0005). Besides, improvement of the hygiene status was associated with a larger number of remained teeth (P=0.0006). Moreover, increase of the education level (P=0.0005) and improvement of hygiene status (P=0.0004) led to a significant reduction in the number of carious teeth.
The high prevalence of dental caries and tooth loss in diabetic patients indicated the need of the people living in this region for appropriate health and treatment measures and experienced health workers for training the people regarding proper oral hygiene, oral complications of diabetes, and the preventive measures.