Objective: To evaluate the association of tooth mobility with glycaemic levels in patients with periodontitis.
Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Oral Medicine, Ziauddin Dental Hospital, Karachi, from December 2018 to May 2019, and comprised patients of either gender with chronic periodontitis. After recording demographic details and dental charting, tooth mobility scores were correlated with gingival crevicular blood glucose, finger capillary blood glucose and glycosylated haemoglobin levels using Pearson's correlation. Linear regression was applied to assess the inter-relation between the variables. Data was analysed using SPSS 20.
Results: Of the 348 patients, 202(58%) were females and 146(42%) were males. The overall mean age was 43±10.4 years. The mean number of teeth in patients with glucose levels <180mg/dl was 25.5±2.5 compared to 23.2±2.9 in individuals with glucose levels >200mg/dl. A moderate positive correlation (r=0.658) was seen between gingival crevicular blood glucose levels and tooth mobility. Finger capillary blood glucose levels also showed good correlation (r=0.653) with tooth mobility scores. Glycosylated haemoglobin scores showed a strong positive correlation(r=0.733). Linear regression confirmed increased glycaemic levels as a risk factor for tooth mobility (p<0.001).
Conclusions: Tooth mobility and glycaemic levels were found to be strongly interrelated.
Keywords: Tooth mobility, Blood glucose, HbA1c, Periodontitis, Hyperglycaemia..