Oral health problems related to pre- and post-medications among diabetic individuals: A cross sectional study

Abstract

Background of the study: Diabetes is a complex metabolic disorder most often causes change in normal oral flora due to hyperglycemia and instabilities in healing processes of damaged mucous membranes as a result of decreased salivation, immune function and changes in dietary habits. Aim: The aim of the present cross sectional study design is to evaluate the various oral health problems encountered by diabetic individual’s pre and post medications. Materials and Method: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted in which a close-ended, self-administered 10 item-questionnaire was distributed randomly among 100 diabetic individuals under medication. Fasting and Random blood sugar levels were collected from their recent medical reports after obtaining their consent. Results: On evaluating the demographic data, the mean age was found to be 49.8years with predominant participants belonging to 41- 50yrs (33%) followed by 51-60yrs (30%) category and presented with Oral health problems such as pain (82%), tooth decay (94%), gum diseases (6%), dry mouth (93%) often with (15%) or without loss of sensation (85%). Conclusion: From the above study it was observed that most of the diabetic patients feel there is a significant relation between diabetes with oral health problem and also noticed significant changes in their oral cavity after diabetes medications can influence their quality of life.