Diabetes: A Multifaceted Syndrome Treatment Considerations in Dentistry
Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, the dental professional should be able to:

• Define metabolic abnormalities related to diabetes.

• Differentiate between the pathophysiology of type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

• Distinguish between DKA and HHS.

• Determine the appropriate protocol to prevent a medical emergency during dental treatment for a patient with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

• Analyze the dental management suggestions related to patients with uncontrolled diabetes.

• List five questions that might be appropriate to help determine a patient’s glycemic control or disease management.

• Explain why blood glucose levels should be less than 200 mg/dl before invasive dental treatment.

• Describe several strategies for stabilizing blood glucose levels for dental patients.

• Define normoglycemia in a way that a patient will understand.

• State the three psychological factors that have been identified with successful patient education outcomes.

• Name the two most important risk factors that are associated with increased susceptibility to periodontal disease.

• Discuss the potential of a bidirectional relationship between diabetes and periodontal disease.

• Identify the various environmental factors that impact periodontal disease associated with diabetes.

• Examine the prevalence of systemic and periodontal disease(s) in the Pima Indian population group based on longitudinal study data.

• Contrast the inevitability of risk factors for periodontal disease in type 2 diabetes with strategies to prevent periodontal disease.

• Describe two common oral health complications of diabetes besides periodontal disease.

• Debate the presence of oral candidiasis with different levels of glycemic control.

• Provide recommendations to a patient with diabetes following a dental procedure that may impact their ability to eat.

• Examine the role of parotid glands in diabetes-associated xerostomia.

• Describe specific guidelines that dental professionals can recommend to patients following dental procedures that affect blood glucose control and/or eating ability.