General Dental Practitioner, Fladbury Dental Surgery, 15 Fladbury Road, London, N15 6SB, UK.
Retired Specialist Practitioner, Briars Dental Centre, 8 St John's Road, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 7LJ, UK.
Br Dent J. 2021 Aug;231(3):180-186. doi: 10.1038/s41415-021-3223-5. Epub 2021 Aug 13.
Introduction In the UK alone, it is estimated that one in four people with type II diabetes are currently undiagnosed.Aim To investigate the prevalence of potentially undiagnosed type II diabetes in patients with chronic periodontitis attending a general dental practice in North London.Methods Patients aged 35 years and over, who had not been diagnosed with diabetes, attending for routine examination and diagnosed with chronic periodontitis, were offered screening for diabetes risk using the self-reporting Finnish Diabetes Risk Score (FINDRISC) questionnaire. If the score showed an increased risk of developing type II diabetes, a referral letter was sent to their general medical practitioner (GMP) for formal testing. The uptake and results of the test were recorded.Results Over the 12-month period, a total of 51 patients were eligible to take part, with 40 agreeing to participate (78% participation rate). Nineteen participants (48%) were found to be at a significantly increased risk of developing type II diabetes based on the recommended FINDRISC cut-off point and were referred to their GMP for formal testing. Eleven participants (58%) scored above the FINDRISC cut-off point and were categorised as high-risk. A further six participants (32%) fell into the moderate-risk category and two participants (10%) fell into the slightly elevated-risk category. Of the 19 participants who were referred for formal testing, four were not found to have type II diabetes, nine were found to have intermediate hyperglycaemia (or prediabetes) and two participants were diagnosed with type II diabetes.Conclusions This study confirmed a method of diabetes risk screening that has a good rate of uptake by patients and is practical for use in general dental practice. A moderate proportion of patients were identified as having an increased risk of developing diabetes and just under half were referred for formal testing. The study has shown an effective method for identifying undiagnosed type II diabetes and prediabetes in patients diagnosed with periodontitis who attend general dental practice.
简介 在英国，估计每四个 2 型糖尿病患者中就有一个目前未被诊断出来。目的 调查在伦敦北部的一家普通牙科诊所就诊的慢性牙周炎患者中，未被诊断出的 2 型糖尿病的患病率。方法 年龄在 35 岁及以上、未被诊断为糖尿病、因常规检查而被诊断为慢性牙周炎的患者，使用自我报告的芬兰糖尿病风险评分（FINDRISC）问卷接受糖尿病风险筛查。如果评分显示有发展为 2 型糖尿病的高风险，将转诊信发送给他们的全科医生（GMP）进行正式检查。记录检查的参与率和结果。结果 在 12 个月的时间里，共有 51 名患者符合参与条件，其中 40 名同意参与（参与率为 78%）。根据推荐的 FINDRISC 截断值，有 19 名参与者（48%）被发现患 2 型糖尿病的风险显著增加，并被转介给他们的 GMP 进行正式检查。11 名参与者（58%）的 FINDRISC 评分超过截断值，被归类为高风险。另有 6 名参与者（32%）处于中危风险类别，2 名参与者（10%）处于轻度升高风险类别。在被转介进行正式检查的 19 名参与者中，有 4 名未被诊断出患有 2 型糖尿病，9 名被诊断为中间高血糖（或前驱糖尿病），2 名参与者被诊断为 2 型糖尿病。结论 本研究证实了一种糖尿病风险筛查方法，患者的接受率较高，在普通牙科实践中切实可行。相当一部分患者被确定为有发展为糖尿病的高风险，其中近一半被转介进行正式检查。该研究表明，在因牙周炎就诊于普通牙科诊所的患者中，是一种有效识别未被诊断出的 2 型糖尿病和前驱糖尿病的方法。
