Assessment of oral health status in a population of Moroccan children with type 1 diabetes.

Background: Type 1 diabetes has become a major health problem in Morocco, given its incidence and high prevalence. The repercussions linked to this disease are various particularly on oral health. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of type 1 diabetes on the oral health of Moroccan children and to evaluate the influence of oral health on blood sugar control.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study 100 children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes aged 3-17 years took part. The non-diabetic group was composed of children and adolescents in overall good health, enrolled in public schools and part of the national dental prevention program, selected to match the diabetic group in terms of number, age and age group. The variables collected were socio-demographic, related to diabetes and related to oral health. The clinical examination revealed variables related to the oral state (DMFT/dmft index, plaque index, gingival index). The Chi-square test was used to compare categorical variables, t-test to compare quantitative variables and Anova test to compare between three groups. We performed linear regression to study the factors associated with dental caries, plaque index and gingival index.

Results: The average age was 9.61, 2.65 of whom 48.5% were male, aged from 3 to 17 years. All participants had at least one dental cavity but the average DMFT/dmft index was higher in diabetic subjects (6.13 ± 3.26). Patients with type 1 diabetes showed a decline in the majority of the oral health metrics examined. Statistically significant differences were found between diabetic and non-diabetic groups in terms of calculus deposition and degree of inflammation (with respectively p = 0.001, p = 0.022). A significant difference was observed for gingival inflammation which was more pronounced in children with uncontrolled type 1 diabetes (p = 0,043). In linear regression a relation between the plaque index and tooth brushing in univariate analysis p < 0.001.

Conclusion: The results of our study indicated that patients with type 1 diabetes experienced a decline in most of the oral health metrics assessed. This may suggest that both diabetes and its control have a significant impact on oral health.