2008 Diabetes and Oral Infections

In 2005 8.9 percent of Kentucky’s population had been diagnosed with diabetes mellitus, and Kentucky is ranked seventh highest in the nation for its estimated percentage of undiagnosed cases. Between the diagnosed percentage and estimates of undiagnosed diabetes in Kentuckians, it’s very likely that one in every eight Kentuckians has diabetes. Kentucky’s high obesity rates add to the problem, with an estimated 35 percent of Kentuckians at risk for developing diabetes.

Poor medical management of diabetes can result in heart disease, loss of eyesight, poor wound healing, kidney failure, and amputations of the lower extremities.

Beyond the health issues, the financial cost to the Commonwealth of Kentucky is staggering. In 2002 the direct and indirect costs of diabetes in Kentucky were approximately $2.9 billion dollars, and the incidence of diabetes and obesity and the cost of treatment have risen consistently since that time.

Robert Kovarik of UK’s College of Dentistry is working closely with St. Claire Regional Medical Center’s four primary care clinics in Carter, Elliot, Bath, and Menifee Counties to respond to the epidemic of type 2 diabetes being seen in their region. The study will measure HbA1C glucose levels, an indicator of the extent to which the patient’s diabetes is controlled, and study the impact of treating infections in the mouth as a means of improving glucose levels and reducing the very negative medical outcomes regularly following from diabetes. The four primary care clinics will provide dental treatments for dental infections and follow glucose levels in their patients. The hope is that improved diabetes control will be achieved, fewer negative medical outcomes will follow, and the patients and the state will save financially.

Based on the results of the study, the team will develop a recommended medical-dental care model that will be most effective in reducing oral infections in type 2 diabetic patients and in reducing HbA1C levels. That model will then be taken to other regional community health centers to improve medical management of type 2 diabetes in their regions as well.