Abstract

Objective: Prevalence of tooth loss is higher among diabetic patients in comparison with non-diabetic patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the relationship between socket blood sugar and post-extraction complications in type II diabetic and non-diabetic patients.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 80 diabetic and 80 non-diabetic patients in Yazd Dental School. All patients had posterior tooth extraction. Prolonged bleeding, pain, fever and swelling were studied at the end of 4th day and dry socket and lack of healing at the end of the 7th day after extraction. Data was analyzed with SPSS 13 software using chi squared, Mann-Whitney and Fisher’s exact tests.

Results: The frequency of prolonged bleeding and incidence of dry socket between two groups at socket blood sugar levels under 126 mg/dL and comparison of the frequency of prolonged pain, fever and infection between two groups at socket blood sugar levels &ge;126 mg/dL showed statistically significant differences (P<0.05). Swelling and lack of healing were not associated with diabetes mellitus in none of the socket blood sugar levels (P>0.1).

Conclusion: It is suggested that dentists use glucometers to determine socket blood sugar levels in diabetic patients to predict and prevent complications after tooth extraction in diabetic patients.