Importance and Potential of Dentists in Identifying Patients at High Risk of Diabetes

摘要

Objectives: The study was conducted to assess the utilization of medical and dental servicesby dental patients at two dental school hospitals and to approximate the number of patients having noknown previous diagnosis of type 2 diabetes but are at high risk of acquiring it.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at two dental school hospitals in India. A 20-itemquestionnaire was administered as interviews among the dental patients aged 35 to 55 years. Data wascollected on past dental and medical visits, medical history, family history relevant to diabetes, cardiovascularhealth, BMI and waist circumference (measured).Results: A total of 413 adult patients (males 61.26, females 38.74) participated in the surveys. Themean age was 43.06 years. Results revealed that nearly 50 did not have a medical or a dental visit inthe last 1 year, 33 had Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD). Among those who did not have medical visitin last one year 45 had BMI >25 kg, 55 had waist circumference above the normal range and 38were at high risk of diabetes.Conclusion: The high number of patients without a medical visit in the past year or more, as well as thehigh levels of diabetes risk indicators, affirms the need for dentists to perform chair-side screenings fordiabetes. These results suggest the need for additional training among dental students to improve earlydetection and identification of high-risk patients to minimize potential morbidity due to diabetes.