Impact of Impaired Glucose Metabolism on Periodontitis Progression over Three Years

We evaluated the relationship between glucose abnormalities and periodontitis in over-weight/obese individuals. Eight hundred and seventy (870) diabetes-free participants aged 40–65 years completed the three-year follow-up in the San Juan Overweight Adults Longitudinal Study. The ADA thresholds for fasting and 2-h post-load glucose and HbA1c were used to define prediabetes. The NHANES methods were used to assess periodontitis. Multivariable linear regression was used to evaluate the relationship between baseline glucose metabolism measures and periodontitis at follow-up, adjusting for potential confounders. There was no association between impaired glucose measures and mean pocket depth (PD), mean clinical attachment loss (CAL), or mean percent of sites ≥5 mm PD. Impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) was associated with a lower mean percent of sites ≥5 mm CAL (β = −1.6, p = 0.037). Prediabetes and impaired fasting glucose (IFG) were associated with improvement in mean percent of sites ≥5 mm PD (β = −1.4, p = 0.022; β = −1.6, p = 0.032; respectively). IFG and IGT were associated with improvement in mean percent of sites with ≥5 mm CAL (β = −1.6, p = 0.038; β = −1.9, p = 0.020; respectively). In conclusion, there were no consistent associations between baseline prediabetes or insulin resistance and periodontitis progression over a three-year period.