Potential association between prediabetic conditions and gingival and/or periodontal inflammation

AIMS/INTRODUCTION Prediabetic conditions, which include impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), might be associated with chronic gingival and/or periodontal inflammation. However, the occurrence of this oral inflammation in prediabetic conditions is poorly understood. The present study aimed to assess the association between prediabetes and gingival and/or periodontal inflammation. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 94 Puerto Rican men and women aged 40-65 years, who were residents of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and free of diabetes, were included in the study. All participants had at least one tooth site with clinical attachment loss ≥3 mm. Fasting and 2-h plasma glucose were collected. Gingival/periodontal inflammation was assessed by bleeding on gentle probing of the sulcus at six sites per tooth. RESULTS Participants with the percentage of teeth with bleeding on probing (BOP) equal to or greater than the median were compared with those with the percentage of teeth with BOP less than median. Participants with high BOP tended to present higher IFG (odds ratio [OR] 5.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2-25.3) and/or prediabetic condition (OR 3.6, 95% CI 1.0-13.2) than those with a low percentage of BOP, adjusting for age, sex, smoking, alcohol consumption, waist circumference and number of missing teeth. Using the continuous form of the outcome, the corresponding adjusted least squares means of percentage of BOP were 26.8 (standard error of the mean [SEM] 2.3) and 43.8 (SEM 6.0) in normal and IFG, respectively (P = 0.01), and 27.0 (SEM 2.4) and 39.0 (SEM 5.3) among healthy and prediabetic individuals, respectively (P = 0.05). CONCLUSION IFG and/or prediabetes are strongly associated with BOP, a marker of chronic gingival/periodontal inflammation.