Oral complications of diabetes: an under-recognised condition

This article presents an under-recognised complication of diabetes—periodontal health, sometimes referred to as the sixth complication of diabetes (Persson, 2011)—and analyses three case studies to demonstrate the approach that practice nurses can adopt to manage this condition.

Diabetes UK (2010) estimated that people with diabetes are three times more likely to develop gum disease than those without diabetes. This estimate was confirmed by research undertaken in Newcastle into the interrelationship between diabetes and periodontitis (Preshaw et al, 2012). It is also reported that periodontitis occurs more commonly in children and young adults with type 1 diabetes than age-matched controls (Lalla et al, 2007) and is three times more common in people with type 2 diabetes than their counterparts without diabetes (Preshaw et al, 2012).