Comparison of Dental Caries and Tooth Loss Prevalence between Diabetic and Non-diabetic Patients: Kabul, Afghanistan

Abstract

Background: Diabetes is a systematic disease that reduces the amount of fluid in the body and causes Xerostomia or dry mouth, which leads to dental caries. Besides, type 2 diabetes is an inflammation-related disease that negatively affects the inflammatory response to dental plaque, leading to intense periodontitis that, if untreated, results in total tooth loss. Aim and Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of dental caries and tooth loss by comparison in diabetic and non-diabetic patients. Material and Method: The cross-sectional study was carried out on 1391 OPD patients over 16 in two governmental hospitals, Kabul University Hospital and National and Specialized Stomatology Hospital. The needed information has been obtained through a questionnaire. Then the oral cavity and the teeth of patients were examined directly in a dental unit in sufficient light and using dental instruments such as dental mirrors and dental explorers. Afterward, data analysis was performed in IBM SPSS Statistic 25.0. Result: The finding of this study shows that 100% of examined patients were suffering from dental caries, and on average, at least there were six teeth lost in each patient. Besides, 55.51% of patients had diabetes with tooth defects. There was 29.92% tooth decay and 25.59% tooth loss, with a remarkable difference between anterior and posterior teeth, as the significant percentage of tooth decay and tooth loss in anterior teeth of diabetic patients than non-diabetics.