[Study of the oral manifestations in diabetic children and their correlation variables]

Because children with type 1 diabetes (DM) are prone to diseases of the buccal cavity, in this transversal study we investigate the prevalence of dental caries, gingivitis and buccal alterations in 26 patients (16F/10M; average age: 10.3 years) from the Diabetic Children's Group at the Federal University Hospital of Santa Catarina, to verify possible correlations among the following variables: index of decayed, missing or filled permanent or deciduous teeth [DMFT or dmft], index of visible plaque [IVP], index of gum bleeding [IGB], dental calculi, gum recession, tongue abnormalities, xerostomia, burning sensation of the mucosa, age at DM diagnosis, administration of insulin; occurrence of DM-related complications; glycemia and glycosilated hemoglobin [GH]. The most frequent alterations were dental calculi (42.3%), xerostomia (38.5%), burning sensation (11.5%), and gum recession (7.7%). The median indices for DMFT/dmft, IVP and IGB were 2.0, 27.21% and 10.91%, respectively. Only age and the level of GH were significantly correlated to IVP (r2 = 0.61), whereas the IVP and hypoglycemia correlated to IGB (r2 = 0.63). We conclude that the older the patient and the higher the GH level, the higher the IVP; whereas the higher the IVP and the less frequent the crisis of mild hypoglycemia, the higher the IGB.