Oral health knowledge and habits in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus

This study evaluated the oral health knowledge and habits in Brazilian children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). A cross-sectional study was performed between November of 2005 and April of 2006 in a public health university hospital, interviewing 55 diabetic children and 55 non-diabetic control children with a semi-structured questionnaire. As much as 55% of the diabetic children and 35.5% of the non-diabetic children were males with mean age of 11.3 +/- 3.7 years and 11.2 +/- 3.8 years, respectively. The mean duration of the T1DM was of 4.5 +/- 0.8 years. Almost half of the diabetic and non-diabetic children brushed their teeth three times a day. Dental floss was used once a day by 30.9% of diabetics and 18.0% of control subjects. A total of 27% of the diabetics vs. 54.5% of non-diabetics had gingival bleeding. The dentist was aware of the T1DM in 74.5% of the cases. As much as 63.8% of the diabetic subjects had been to the dentist within the previous 12 months. In conclusion, although the diabetic children seemed to have better oral health habits than the control children, there is a need for more information regarding oral hygiene and healthy habits.