Suzanne Yeoh - Dental Officer, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Dental Clinic Tudan, Jalan Tudan, ۹۸۰۰۰ Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia
Haslina Taib - Associate Professor, Department of Periodontics, School of Dental Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia
Siti Lailatul Akmar Zainuddin - Senior Lecturer, Department of Periodontics, School of Dental Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia
Basaruddin Ahmad - Senior Lecturer, Department of Dental Public Health (Biostatistics), School of Dental Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The awareness about bidirectional relationship between periodontitis and diabetes mellitus (DM) is not well known among the Malaysian population. This study aimed to evaluate the level of awareness of periodontal disease (PD)-DM interrelationship and self-reported periodontal health among patients with DM.METHODS: Patients who attended the diabetic clinic were systematically and randomly invited to participate in this cross-sectional study. Consented participants completed a validated self-administered questionnaire and provided information on socio-demographic background, oral hygiene practice, periodontal health status, and awareness about whether there is relationship between PD and DM. The level of hemoglobin A۱c (HbA۱c) was obtained from the medical record. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were carried out using SPSS software with P < ۰.۰۵ considered as significant.RESULTS: A total of ۱۲۳ patients with DM with a mean age of ۶۲.۲۰ ± ۹.۵۵ years participated in the study. The mean duration of living with DM was ۱۰.۶۲ ± ۶.۵۲ years and that for HbA۱c level was ۹.۰۸ ± ۲.۲۴ mmol/l. About ۵۳% of the participants had signs of PD, but only ۲۲% perceived that they had PD. Only ۱۵% were aware of the PD-DM interrelationship. The odds of knowing the definition and cause of PD and believing that oral health could be better without DM were greater in participants who had the awareness compared to those without awareness (P < ۰.۰۱).CONCLUSION: This study showed that patients with DM had a low level of awareness about PD-DM interrelationship which could be due to a lack of understanding about PD. It is recommended that patients with DM should be referred to a dental clinic for oral health counselling.

Diabetes Mellitus, Diabetes Complications, Oral Health, Periodontitis, Periodontal disease