Diabetes

Around eight million people in Germany are diabetic. Most are aware of the risks of serious and in part life-threatening secondary illnesses. Only one in three, however, knows that disease of the teeth and gums can also have its cause in diabetes. Periodontitis is by now counted among the typical secondary illnesses of diabetes. The chronic inflammation of the structures supporting the teeth can lead to more than the loss of teeth: bacteria that spread through the blood into the whole body can also raise the risk of heart attack or stroke and in turn encourage metabolic diseases such as diabetes mellitus. Where the gum alone is inflamed, experts speak of gingivitis; only inflammation of the supporting structures constitutes periodontitis

In people with diabetes the body releases increased amounts of messenger substances, which can also cause inflammation in the structures supporting the teeth – that is, where the teeth normally have a firm hold in the jawbone. For diabetics the risk of developing periodontitis is three times higher. Diabetes weakens the whole immune system and bacteria can multiply more easily – in the mouth too. High blood sugar levels lead to changes in the blood vessels and so reduce the resistance of the supporting structures; the risk of periodontitis rises

Chronic inflammation in the mouth for its part increases the insulin resistance of the cells. The blood sugar level thus deteriorates further and it becomes markedly more difficult to stabilise patients with medication intended to normalise it. For diabetics it is therefore enormously important to prevent not only periodontitis but every disease of the teeth, mouth and jaw in good time and for the long term

Within modern prevention plans, a personal dental care schedule is drawn up for each patient on the basis of their individual risk of periodontitis and caries. Only after a thorough examination and an assessment of the current state of teeth and gums do the dental specialists decide on the kind and extent of treatment and of the prevention needed. The aim: to detect risks in good time and to prevent disease