Effects of periodontal management for patients with type 2 diabetes on healthcare expenditure, hospitalization and worsening of diabetes: an observational study using medical, dental and pharmacy claims data in Japan.

AIMS

To investigate the effects of regular periodontal management for people with type 2 diabetes on total healthcare expenditure, hospitalization and the introduction of insulin.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We collected data of individuals who were prescribed diabetes medications during the fiscal year 2015 from the claims database of a prefecture in Japan. We fitted generalized linear models that had sex, age, comorbidities and the status of periodontal management during the previous two years as predictors.

RESULTS

A total of 16,583 individuals were enrolled. The annual healthcare expenditure in the third year was 4% less (adjusted multiplier 0.96, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.92-1.00) in the group receiving periodontal management every year. The adjusted odds ratio (aOR) for all-cause hospitalization was 0.90 (95% CI: 0.82-0.98). The aOR of introducing insulin in the third year for those who had not been prescribed insulin during the previous two years (n = 13,222) was 0.77 (95% CI: 0.64-0.92) in the group receiving periodontal management every year.

CONCLUSION

Regular periodontal management for diabetic people was associated with reduced healthcare expenditure, all-cause hospitalization and the introduction of insulin therapy.