Oral Health Behaviour and Periodontal Treatment Needs in a Group of Iranian Adults With Diabetes One Year After an Oral Health Intervention

Aim: To investigate changes in oral health behaviour and periodontal treatment needs among adults with diabetes one year after an oral health intervention. Methods: The study subjects consisted of 299 dentate adults with diabetes who were regular attenders at a diabetic clinic in Tehran, Iran. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect information on the subjects’ oral health behaviour and background. The participants were randomly assigned to two intervention groups and one control group. In one group, oral-health-related information was delivered by an educational booklet only; in the other intervention group, in addition to distributing the same booklet, an oral hygienist also gave personal oral health care instructions. Plaque and the need for periodontal treatment were assessed using the Plaque Index (Silness & Löe 1964) and the Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Needs (CPITN) and were recorded during clinical periodontal examinations before and one year after intervention. The statistical significance of differences between the groups was evaluated by means of ANOVA, chi-square test, paired t-test, and logistic regression models. Results: In comparison to the control group, both interventional groups showed a statistically significant decrease in visible plaque and periodontal treatment needs. In the active intervention group, the fall in the number of participants with a CPITN score of 4 was from 13 to 9 and for CPITN 3 from 33 to 22. In the passive intervention group, the falls were from 27 to 22 for the score CPITN 4 and from 34 to 24 for CPITN 3. In the control group, the number with a CPITN score of 4 fell from 18 to 13 and the number with a CPITN score of 3 rose from 30 to 33. The mean reduction in the sum of Plaque Index (PI) scores for all sextants was 1.3 (SD 2.6) in the active intervention group and 2.0 (SD 2.4) in the passive intervention group, these changes being greater than in the control group (0.3, SD 2.2, P=0.03, and P<0.001, respectively). Conclusion: The results indicated the potential of intervention in oral health education aiming at improvement of oral health behaviour and reduction of periodontal treatment needs among adults with diabetes in countries with a developing health care system.