Evaluation of Effect of SRP on the Levels of HbA1c in Prediabetic and Diabetes Mellitus type 2 Patients with Periodontitis

Introduction: Effect of scaling and root planing (SRP) in controlling glycemic index in pre-diabetic individuals with chronic periodontitis has been evaluated in a very limited number of studies. Objective: This study is aimed to evaluate HbA1c levels after SRP in chronic periodontitis in 3 groups i.e., non diabetic patients, pre-diabetic patients and established controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. Methodology: This comparative study was done on non diabetics and diabetic individuals who were 35 to 70 years old. Group A consisted of 15 non diabetic patients with periodontitis, Group B consisted of 15 pre-diabetic patients with periodontitis and Group C consisted of 15 diabetic patients with chronic periodontits. Gingival index (GI), Plaque index (PI), Pocket depth (PD), Clinical attachment loss (CAL), Fasting blood glucose (FG) and HbA1c levels of all the participants was recorded. All participants were given SRP and oral hygiene instructions. Clinical & laboratory evaluations were made at baseline, at 1st month and at the end of 3rd month. Result: The primary observation was statistically significant reduction in HbA1c parameter from 8.1?0.84 (baseline) to 7?0.50 (at 3rd month) in diabetics and 5.93?0.24 (baseline) to 5.52?0.38 (at 3rd month) in prediabetics. Secondary outcomes observed are reduced mean GI, mean PI, mean PD and mean CAL which indicates a improved periodontal status in patients. Conclusion: This study was able to established "bidirectional relationship". Improving one disease can alter the nature and progression of these chronic diseases. This study was able to highlight relationship of periodontitis and progression of prediabetes. There can be a marked improvement in diabetic status of prediabetics if periodontal health in kept under check. Though longitudinal studies with greater sample size are required to completely elucidate this relationship.