Diabetes makes gum disease more likely. Gum disease can make blood sugar harder to control. Each feeds the other.
If you have diabetes, your mouth matters more than you might think. And if you have gum disease, it's worth knowing that it can affect more than your teeth. The relationship goes both ways.
How Diabetes Affects Your Mouth
People with diabetes, particularly when their blood sugar is poorly controlled, are more likely to develop gum disease and to get it more severely. Diabetes can also bring a dry mouth and slower healing, which make everything in the mouth a little harder to keep on top of.
And How Gum Disease Affects Diabetes
The international consensus report from the International Diabetes Federation and the European Federation of Periodontology found that periodontitis is linked to a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Pooling six studies of nearly 78,000 people, the risk was about 29% higher. In people who already have type 2 diabetes, some studies found higher HbA1c (the long-term blood sugar measure) in those with periodontitis, around 7.4% against 7.0%, though not all studies agreed. The likely connection is inflammation, which makes it harder for the body to respond to insulin.
Does Treating Your Gums Help?
The report concluded that non-surgical gum treatment reduces HbA1c by roughly 0.3 to 0.5 percentage points at three to four months in people with type 2 diabetes. That's a modest effect, and it hasn't been shown to last to six months, so it's a useful addition to your diabetes care, not a replacement for it. Gum disease is worth treating for its own sake in any case.
What to Tell Us
Tell us your type of diabetes, your medicines (insulin and some tablets can cause low blood sugar), and how well controlled things have been lately. Have something to eat as normal before appointments, and bring your medicines. If your diabetes isn't well controlled, we may delay surgical gum treatment or implants until it is, and we may speak to your GP or diabetes team about timing.
What You Can Do
Brush twice a day, clean between your teeth, and keep your regular check-ups, even if nothing hurts. Tell us promptly about bleeding or swollen gums, loose teeth or teeth that seem to be moving. A hygiene visit is £77 for 20 minutes or £105 for 30. And if you haven't been diagnosed with diabetes but you're often very thirsty, passing urine a lot, or losing weight without trying, see your GP. We may notice gum changes that point the same way, which is part of why we look after your gums first. For more on how gum disease links to the rest of the body, see our post on gum disease and heart disease.
Source: Consensus report and guidelines of the joint workshop on periodontal diseases and diabetes, International Diabetes Federation and European Federation of Periodontology.