Better care of teeth could also mean greater control of Type 2 diabetes, dentists said at the 68th annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association, now on in San Francisco.

George W. Taylor, Associate Professor of Dentistry, Schools of Dentistry and Public Health, University of Michigan, said, "Several recent studies have shown that having periodontal disease makes those with type 2 diabetes more likely to develop worsened glycemic control and puts them at much greater risk of end-stage kidney disease and death."

(Glycemia is the concentration of glucose in the blood.)

Good glycemic control results in reduced development and progression of diabetes complications. Hence periodontal treatment can perhaps provide an increment in diabetes control and subsequently a reduction in the risk for diabetes complications, Dr. Taylor added.

"One of the many complications of diabetes is a greater risk for periodontal disease,"said Maria E. Ryan, Professor of Oral Biology and Pathology, and Director of Clinical Research, School of Dental Medicine, Stony Brook University, New York, in a recent interview. "If you have this oral infection and inflammation, it’s much more difficult to control blood glucose levels." Intensive periodontitis treatment significantly reduces levels of A1C, a measure of glucose control over the prior two to three months.

These links between oral and systemic health may start even before clinical diabetes begins. "We have found evidence that the severity of periodontal disease is associated with higher levels of insulin resistance, often a precursor of type 2 diabetes, as well as with higher levels of A1C, a measure of poor glycemic control of diabetes," she said, according to a press release issued by the ADA.