Daily Mail reports link between gum disease and T2 diabetes
What was it all about?
So another day, another article in the newspapers about gum disease and how it is affecting your body. It’s excellent news that the national newspapers are beginning to recognise gum disease and of course it once again reinforces exactly what we are doing at Life Dental & Wellbeing and why we are doing it.
So in a nutshell, last week The Daily Mail reported in big bold print in a box all of it’s own to make it stand out and hopefully make its readers sit up and take note - “Is gum disease a warning sign?”. The article suggested that gum disease could be an early sign of Type 2 diabetes - something that we have been banging on about for over 2 years now!
How many people have Type 2 diabetes?
According to Daily Mail figures, some 3.5 million people have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes but more than 500,000 are living with the condition unknowingly. The study that they quoted is another that is telling us that it really is very important to look after your gum health.
What was the study?
Taken from results in the journal BMJ Open Diabetes Research And Care, the Daily Mail’s latest report comes from the University of Amsterdam. There, a study of 313 middle-aged people found that patients were 23% more likely to have type 2 diabetes if they had gum disease. They also stated that 47% of the cohort were more likely to have pre-diabetes than those without gum disease. The conclusion from the report being that people with diabetes are more susceptible to infections and impaired wound healing. Something we absolutely concur with.
And the conclusions?
The researchers then went on to claim that it would be “feasible to screen for undiagnosed diabetes in dental practices, focusing on people with the most severe form of gum disease” and that folks is exactly what we do with the Hb1Ac test that we offer all our New Patients at Life Dental and Wellbeing.
Incidentally we also take your Blood Pressure, check your BMI and offer you the chance to find out your risk of getting gum disease using a clever tool called PreViser.
Ben has a Masters Degree in Gums (Periodontology if you want it’s technical term) and has been looking after patients with severe gum disease for nearly 15 years now. As 45% of the adult population have gum disease perhaps now is the time to take your mouth health a bit more seriously.
How can we help?
If you have bleeding gums, sore gums or loose painful teeth then we suggest you make an appointment for a consultation with us at Life Dental & Wellbeing and we will help you sort your gum disease out.
If you have bleeding gums, sore gums or loose painful teeth then we suggest you make an appointment for a consultation with us at Life Dental & Wellbeing and we will help you sort your gum disease out.
Also, if you have concerns about your diet or have Type 2 diabetes in your family then you might like to consider having a consultation with our in-house Nutritionist Tamara Bennett who would love to help you re-assess your diet.
