Comparing Dental Caries Prevalence in African-American Diabetics and Non-Diabetics

Introduction: While the link between diabetes and periodontal disease is accepted, no clear association has been found between diabetes and dental caries. There is a need to investigate this specifically among African-Americans who are at especially high risk for having diabetes.

Objective: Within the subpopulation of African-Americans, (1) To determine differences in dental caries prevalence based on diabetes status. (2) To examine the relationship between gender, age, time since last dental visit, poverty, dental insurance, and xerostomia status on dental caries. (3) To provide population estimates relevant to caries burden and potentially related factors.

Methods: Cross-sectional data from the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were used. T-tests compared the mean number of decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) of African-Americans (N=2223) based on diabetic status and other possible underlying factors. Multivariate linear regression analysis examined the relationship between DMFT scores and the possible underlying caries factors. Sampling weights and adjusted standard errors account for the complex survey design.

Results: There was no significant difference (p=0.54) between African-American diabetics (DMFT=7.62) and non-diabetics (DMFT=8.09) in terms of DMFT score. Adjusting for other variables, visiting a dentist in the last year was associated with lower DMFT scores (b=-1.17, SE=.45).

Conclusions: Although diabetic African-Americans were found to have a lower prevalence of dental caries than non-diabetic African-Americans, there was no significant difference in mean DMFT scores between the two groups. Lower DMFT scores for subjects who had visited a dentist in the past year supports the value of dental visits in reducing caries experience. Study limitations include not differentiating diabetes type, level of disease control, age of disease onset, or age groups in the analysis.

Support: T32-DE01749, U54-DE142501