Your Dentist Can Detect Diabetes

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Your Dentist Can Detect Diabetes

New research by Dutch scientists suggests that it may be possible to detect early-stage type 2 diabetes when you consult a dentist for routine maintenance on your teeth and smile.

Key Takeaways:

– When dentists found severe periodontitis while checking their patients’ teeth, those same patients were later found to be more than twice as likely to have suspected diabetes.

– Your smile is a potent indicator of your overall health – not only can it help predict diabetes, but it can also potentially reveal problems like myocardial infarctions and heart disease.

– About 70% of Americans see a dentist at least once a year, so if it becomes possible to conduct diabetes screening at a dentist’s office, it could allow far more developing diabetics to get the early interventions they need for the best outcomes.

“A dental office that treats patients with severe periodontitis is a suitable location for screening for (pre)diabetes; a considerable number of suspected new diabetes cases were identified and indicated that periodontitis is an early sign of diabetes mellitus.”
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Dr. Biju Philip

Dr. Philip (GMC No: 6072826) is a medical doctor with more than 20 years experience, of which 13 years has been in the field of Anaesthetics and Critical Care. He has also undergone extensive training in Dental Sedation and Facial Aesthetics, including Botox and dermal filler treatments, which he now practices in our dental surgery in Exning. He also works as an Anaesthetist at West Suffolk Hospital, Bury St. Edmunds.