Peripheral Blood vs. Gingival Crevicular Blood-Sugar concentration in Diabetics

Traditionally, diabetes mellitus has been diagnosed by fasting plasma blood sugar higher than 126 mg/dL.

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the association between gingival crevicular blood sugar (GCBS) concentration and peripheral blood sugar concentration, and it would be helpful for dentists to use GCBS as an adjunctive tool to screen out DM patients.

Methods: Twenty-nine volunteers (11 diabetic patients and 18 non-diabetic patients), aged from 20 to 70 yrs, and without systemic diseases such as anemia, polycythemia, and intake of substances that interfere with systemic coagulation, were enrolled and subjected to routine clinical periodontal examination. Anterior teeth or teeth with periodontal pockets greater than 3 mm were chosen, and gauze was used before blood samples were taken with autopipettes. Gingival crevicular blood was taken instead of finger-stick capillary blood, and was transferred to blood sugar test strips (Accu-Check Test Strips), and read in blood sugar machine (Roche Accu-Check Advantage Glucose Meter HMS-86001A). Every volunteer had his/her peripheral blood compared and analyzed by correlation with GCBS.

Results: The results of the study indicated highly significant correlation (r = 0.9853, p < 0.0001) between GCBS and peripheral blood sugar.

Conclusion: Gingival crevicular blood sugar concentrations could be used alternatively as an adjunct tool to detect DM patients in the dental office. This study is supported in part by grant from the NSC (91-2815-C-038-015-B) and by Pohai research grant 95-1D02.