Perio-Diabetes Workshop

03 March 2017

Experts from the fields of gum health and diabetes met in Madrid on February 19 and 20, 2017 at the SEPA Gum Health Center for the Perio-Diabetes Workshop, a pioneering international summit which explored the latest evidence on the links between periodontal diseases and diabetes. The workshop reached a new scientific consensus on how these widespread chronic conditions reinforce each other and produced recommendations on how dentists and physicians can work more effectively together to help prevent and treat them.

Among their conclusions were:

• Periodontitis patients have a higher chance of developing pre-diabetes and type-2 diabetes.
• While there is no data to support a causal relationship between the periodontal microbiome, the microorganisms involved in gum disease, and the presence of diabetes, recent studies do show an association between altered glucose metabolism in pre-diabetes and diabetes and changes in the periodontal microbiome.
• There is a moderate level of evidence that certain biological mechanisms mediate the effect of periodontitis on the control of diabetes.
• There is evidence that improving the control of diabetes results in improvements to periodontal status and that improving periodontal health has benefits in improving metabolic control and/or the complications of diabetes.

Guidelines drawn up by the workshop include providing oral-health education to all patients with diabetes and informing them that they have a greater risk of periodontal disease which, if left untreated, could have a negative impact on metabolic control and may also increase the risk of complications including cardiovascular and kidney disease. Patients should also be advised that successful periodontal therapy can have a positive impact on their metabolic control and complications.

Among the participants was Marzia Massignani, Scientific Affairs Manager at Sunstar: “We are truly excited by the opportunity to bring together some of the top experts in the worlds of dentistry and diabetes care. We recognize that professionals coming from both worlds are key to achieving this objective. Uniting the complementary expertise of the EFP and the IDF to collaborate on this shared vision is a wonderful opportunity to contribute to a more holistic management of diabetes and improved patient outcomes.”

(Source: EFP press release)

For the general video from the Perio-Diabetes workshop please click here