OBJECTIVE:

To study the extent of periodontal disease in diabetic and non-diabetic periodontitis patients, and to investigate the relationship of dyslipidemia and periodontal disease, in diabetic and non-diabetic periodontitis patients.

METHODS:

This is a cross-sectional study at the Department of Preventive Dental Sciences (College of Dentistry) and Department of Physiology (College of Medicine), King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from February 2003 to June 2004. A total of 90 patients was recruited, and divided into 3 equal groups of 30 subjects, with age and gender matched, and divided as follows: group 1 healthy group: periodontally and systemically healthy subjects, group 2 periodontitis group: chronic periodontitis patients with no systemic disease, group 3 diabetic group: chronic periodontitis patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Plaque index, bleeding on probing, probing pocket depth (PPD), and clinical attachment level (CAL) were measured at the time of initial examination. The glycated hemoglobin, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL), triglyceride, high density lipoprotein were also measured.

RESULTS:

Periodontal parameters (PPD and CAL) were of significantly higher value in the diabetic patients, when compared to the periodontitis patients (p<0.05). The total cholesterol, LDL, and triglyceride were also found to be significantly higher among the periodontitis patients than the healthy subjects (p<0.05).

CONCLUSION:

This study indicated that type 2 diabetic patients had a higher risk to develop advanced periodontal disease than the non-diabetic subjects. It also highlighted the association of dyslipidemia in periodontitis patients.