Diabetes screening in the dental practice

When we talk about prevention in the dental setting we tend to think mainly of decay, gum disease and tooth-wear. Dental professionals may specialise in the mouth but we should be looking after the whole patient. As we tend to see patients who are generally healthy, we can really offer a great service to our patients if we help them avoid life-threatening conditions.

Smoking and alcohol-related diseases are the obvious ones for the dental setting, and topics that have been covered in detail by Dental Nursing, but due to the links between oral health and general health I believe a diabetes screening service should also be welcomed by the profession. There is plenty of evidence that inflammation in the mouth can have an impact on someone's ability to control their diabetes and also affect the risk of someone getting type 2 diabetes; therefore, diabetes and dental care are closely related.