Attitude of Physicians towards Periodontal Disease and Diabetes Mellitus Screening in Dental Clinics in Thailand.

Manatsara Panakhup,Pornpoj Fuangtharnthip,Patr Pujarern,Chanita Tantipoj,Naiyana Buranachad,Suraphong Yuma,Intouch Lertpanomwan,Tharee Champirat,Chayaphat Pajonklaew,Tawepong Arayapisit

doi:10.3390/ijerph18105385

Manatsara Panakhup, Pornpoj Fuangtharnthip + Show 8 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18105385

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Abstract

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the top causes of death in many places of the world. Diagnosing DM in the early stage is necessary to avoid severe cases and death. Objectives: To evaluate the knowledge of association between DM and periodontal disease (PD) among Thai physicians and assess their attitudes towards DM screening in dental clinics in Thailand. Methods: Online survey of currently practicing physicians in Thailand was conducted on voluntary basis using the newly developed questionnaire. Result: We received 403 responses that are statistically sufficient to represent the entire population of currently practicing physicians in Thailand. A total of 97.3% of all responses indicate that Thai physicians have knowledge about the association between DM and PD. More than 90% know that DM has an effect on PD; however, 70% know about the effect of untreated PD in DM patients. Most of physicians think that DM screening in dental clinics is important (79.1%) and are ready to accept referred cases for definite DM diagnosis from a dentist (84.1%). The concerned issues among the participants were the accuracy of the test results in DM screening (73%) and ability of a dentist to perform the screening (71.5%). Conclusions: The majority of participating physicians have adequate knowledge about the bidirectional relationship between DM and PD. They have a positive attitude towards DM screening in dental setting. The collaboration between physicians and dental professionals should be established to reduce the number of undiagnosed DM patients and enhance the medical care of DM patients.

Highlights

IntroductionType 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is one of the most common non-communicable diseases
Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is one of the most common non-communicable diseases.It is the sixth cause of death and mortality in Thai population
There were only 15% of the physicians who disagreed with the idea of having a primary screening of DM in the dental clinics. This interestingly coincides with the fraction of the participants who were not ready to accept the referred cases from the dental clinics. We examined if this statement were true by individually checking the answers of the participants who disagreed with having a primary DM screening as a routine work

Summary

Introduction

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is one of the most common non-communicable diseases. It is the sixth cause of death and mortality in Thai population. A substantial proportion of DM cases remains undiagnosed. Many patients are not aware that they have DM and do not receive a diagnosis until having complications including periodontal disease (PD). Greenberg et al, (2007) [2] reported that individuals with a self-reported family history of DM, hypertension, high cholesterol levels, and clinical evidence of PD have undiagnosed DM with a probability of 27% to 53%. Detection and prompt treatment may help reduce the burden of DM and its complications

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