Abstract

Introduction: Diabetes is a condition characterized by chronic hyperglycemia which may be due decreased insulin levels as well as due to receptors. Unbalanced, it can lead to severe complications. Periodontal disease is one of the complications of unbalanced diabetes. This bacterial disease destroys the tissues that support teeth and causes their loss.

Objective: The objective of this study was to describe the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of the oral diseases observed in diabetic children followed at the Mali hospital.

Materials and methods: We conducted a six-month cross-sectional study based on the observation of the periodontal condition of 79 children with diabetes aged 6 to 15 years followed at the Mali Hospital. Brushing was considered normal when a child was brushing vertically. The data were collected from a survey sheet prepared for the occasion, a follow-up notebook, registers (consultation and hospitalization), entered on the Epi info 3.5.3 software, and Excel from the Microsoft Starter 2007 software. Statistical calculations were carried out with chi- 2 of Pearson with an alpha risk ≤0.05.

Results: We recorded 67 cases of periodontal disease, 84.81%. The male sex was represented with 51.89% of cases and a sex ratio of 1.07. The age group 12-15 years was represented with 65.6% of the cases (Table 1). Patients were students / students in 88.6% of the cases (Table 2).

All our patients had type 1 diabetes and 1 to 5 years of age in 72.15% of cases. Fifty-nine patients had blood glucose levels above 1.26g/l, i.e., 76.8% of the cases (Table 3 & 4). Forty-six of our patients had glycated hemoglobin >10% or 57.7% (Table 5), i.e., a very high risk of complications. The diseases encountered in our patients were retinopathy problems, followed by gastritis / ulcers with 34% and 28% respectively (Table 6). Children had poor brushing technique in 96.20% (Table 7) of the cases and did not know the relationship between diabetes and oral disease in 93.67% (Table 8 & 9) cases. They had a low plaque index (low oral hygiene) in 8.8% of cases (Table 10 & 11) and severe gingival inflammation in 6.33% of cases (Table 12). Children had 74.68% malocclusion, 29.11% halitosis and 56.96% dry mouth.

Conclusion: This study showed a high frequency of periodontal disease in our diabetic children population. Prevention, promotion of oral health and early detection will improve the health and quality of life of these children; Hence the need to integrate the odontologist into the multidisciplinary team of diabetic children.

Keywords: Children; Diabetes; Gingival inflammation; Plaque index; Affections; Oral