Effect of periodontal basic treatment in elderly patients with moderate to severe periodontitis and type 2 diabetes

Objective To explore the effect of periodontal basic treatment on periodontal infection in elderly patients with moderate to severe periodontitis and type 2 diabetes.

Methods 60 elderly patients with moderate to severe periodontitis and type 2 diabetes admitted to Shanghai Pudong Hospital from September 2018 to September 2019 were divided into control group (patients did not receive periodontal basic treatment, n=30) and observation group (patients received periodontal basic treatment, n=30) randomly. All patients' periodontal parameters (plaque index, sulcus bleeding index, periodontal pocket depth and attachment loss), blood glucose index (fasting blood glucose (FPG), 2-hour postprandial blood glucose (2hPG), and glycated hemoglobin (HbA_lc)), periodontal infection control rate, and treatment service satisfaction rate were evaluated. The correlation between periodontal parameters and HbA₁c was analyzed.

Results the parameters of plaque index, sulcus bleeding index, periodontal pocket depth, and attachment loss in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05); the levels of FPG, 2hPG, and HbA_lc in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05). The control rate of periodontal infection was higher than that of the control group (P < 0.05); The correlation analysis between periodontal index and HbA1c in the observation group showed that plaque index, bleeding index, periodontal pocket depth and attachment loss were positively correlated with HbA₁c (r²=0.844, 0.900, 0.932, 0.866; P < 0.05). the treatment satisfaction rate of the observation group was higher than the control group (96.67% vs 70.00%, P < 0.05). The periodontal parameters were positively correlated with HbA₁c in observation group (P < 0.05).

Conclusions Basic periodontal treatment is beneficial to control periodontal infection, improve the blood glucose index of the patients and improve the quality of medical service, which might provide new ideas and methods for interdisciplinary treatment of elderly type 2 diabetes.