Caries experience among children with type 1 diabetes in Kuwait.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the association among type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM), caries experience, and salivary glucose in 12- to 15-year-olds in Kuwait.

Methods: A cross-sectional design was chosen involving 53 DM patients and 53 nondiabetic controls, group-matched by age and sex to the experimental group. The DM patients comprised 2 groups: (1) 14 controlled DM children (glycated haemoglobin, HbA1c=<8); and (2) 39 children with uncontrolled DM (HbA1c>8). The children's caries experience, at the precavitation and cavitation diagnostic threshold, was measured. In addition, their frequency of sugar consumption, plaque index, salivary flow rate, buffering capacity, as well as mutans streptococci, lactobacilli, and yeast counts were recorded.

Results: The DM children had significantly higher caries experience both at precavitation and cavitation diagnostic thresholds, than the control group. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed age, frequency of sugar consumption, and resting salivary flow rate to be significantly associated with high caries experience among the diabetic children.

Conclusion: Caries experience was significantly higher in children with type 1 diabetes than in nondiabetic controls.