Comparison of the Oral Hygiene Status in Children With and Without Juvenile Diabetes - A Comparative Study

The rise in awareness programs with regard to the maintenance of oral hygiene in children with diabetes has led to a hypothetical question if children with juvenile diabetes are still under the risk of developing dental caries and having poor oral hygiene.

To compare the oral hygiene status of the children with and without juvenile diabetes.

The study was conducted as age and sex matched case-control study. Sixty-six children diagnosed with juvenile diabetes were compared with the age and sex matched 66 healthy controls with respect to the oral hygiene index, gingival index and DMFT/def index. Mean of the obtained scores of the variables were compared between the groups using Mann-Whitney test with significance level set at 5%.

No statistically significant differences were noted in the gingival condition and dental caries experience between the children with and without juvenile diabetes (P = 0.820; 0.504; 0.422). However, the overall oral hygiene status was found to be poor in children with juvenile diabetes (P = 0.003). No significant differences were observed in the gingival status and the dental caries prevalence between the two groups.