Medical and Pharmacology | Human diseases and medical and dental emergencies | Diabetes in the dental patient

Diabetes in the dental patient
Session overview
Description
This session will look at the signs and symptoms that may present in a patient with diabetes and the relevance of diabetes to the dental practitioner.

Learning objectives
By the end of this session you will be able to:

• discuss the pathology of diabetes
• recognise the patient with diabetes
• provide dental care appropriate for a patient with diabetes
• recognise and manage complications of dental health which can arise in the patient with diabetes

The dental practitioner will encounter many hundreds of patients in his or her lifetime with a diagnosis of diabetes.

Therefore, it is imperative that the dental team is fully aware of this disorder and aware of the importance of maintaining oral health in this group of patients.

What is diabetes?

Diabetes can be described as a syndrome of hyperglycaemia (high blood sugar levels) and abnormal metabolism arising due to a disturbance in the overall action of insulin.