Comparing the Frequency of Some Oral Lesions in Prediabetic and Healthy Individuals: Is There Any Difference?

Background: Diagnosis of prediabetic stage is very important for prevention of diabetes and complications. This stage may be associated with some oral lesions. Only a few studies are available on the oral status of prediabetic patients and incidence of oral lesions in this population. This study aimed to compare some oral complications between prediabetic and healthy control groups.

Methods: The present two-group cross-sectional study was carried out on 302 prediabetic and non-diabetic (healthy) 20- to 60-year-old subjects. In this study, data on age, gender, educational level, medications use, smoking, and some other variables were extracted through history taking. In addition, orodental examination was carried out by an oral medicine specialist to diagnose oral lesions including candidiasis, lichen planus, periodontitis, gingivitis, xerostomia, delayed wound healing, geographic tongue, fissured tongue, and burning mouth sensation. Data entry and analysis was performed by SPSS version 22 software, and value and odds ratio (OR) were calculated to show statistical relationship between variables.

Results: The most common oral lesion in prediabetic subjects was periodontitis (27.2%), followed by gingivitis (14.7%) and xerostomia (11.3%). In the control group, gingivitis (20.5%) followed by periodontitis (11.3%) are common oral lesions. Candidiasis ( = 0.036), periodontitis ( < 0.001), and xerostomia ( < 0.001) in prediabetic subjects were higher than control group that is statistically significant. Regression analysis showed that in the prediabetic group, periodontitis [OR = 2.91, confidence interval (CI): 1.54-5.49] and xerostomia (OR = 18.51, CI = 2.42-141.45) were significantly more prevalent than healthy subjects.

Conclusion: Based on the results, glucose intolerance stage exhibited a significantly higher oral problems such as periodontitis and xerostomia than healthy euglycemic stage.