New Jersey: It is common knowledge that patients of both Type 1 and Type Diabetes Mellites exhibit signs of tooth decay, poor oral hygiene, and gum recession. Recent studies have now revealed why this may be.
According to this new study the reason behind this is: reduced strength and durability of tooth structures like enamel and dentine.
Enamel is the outer, white, hard crystalline structure of the tooth surface that is visible. Dentine is present beneath the enamel, to provide structure and protection to the pulp.
Scientists at Rutgers induced Type 1 Diabetes Mellites in mice and used a microhardness tester to examine the strength of teeth in these mice as well as the control subjects over a period of 28 weeks. The Vickers microhardness tester was used in this examination.
It was noticeable that by 12th week, diabetic mice exhibited a significantly softer enamel and the controls. This difference between the controls and the diabetic mice increased drastically over the rest of the duration of the study.
“We’ve long seen elevated rates of cavity formation and tooth loss in patients with diabetes, and we’ve long known that treatments such as fillings do not last as long in such patients, but we did not know exactly why,” said Mohammad Ali Saghiri, an assistant professor of restorative dentistry at the Rutgers School of Dental Medicine.