Diabetes

What Is Diabetes?

Diabetes is a chronic condition that inhibits your body's use of blood sugar, called glucose. Normally, the pancreas produces insulin to help cells absorb the glucose in your blood and use it as energy. Someone with diabetes, however, cannot produce or use insulin properly, which allows glucose to build up. Over time, high levels of glucose can cause a range of health problems, including blood disease, nerve damage, kidney damage, vision loss, and more.

Diabetes is a common disease. About 20% of all health care dollars are spent on diabetes treatment and management annually, which amounts to over $245 billion. While there is no known cure for the disease as of yet, you can help manage and reduce its health impact through early diagnosis and treatment.

What Are the Signs of Diabetes?

If you have any of the following symptoms, you should see a doctor about your glucose levels:

  • Frequent urination
  • Excessive thirst or hunger
  • Unwanted weight gain
  • Blurry vision
  • Tingling in the hands or feet
  • Fatigue

Diabetes and the Mouth-Body Connection

There are many risk factors associated with diabetes and oral health. Diabetes can impact your oral health by increasing the level of harmful bacteria in your gums, resulting in periodontal disease. Gum inflammation can also damage the pancreas, where insulin is produced, which can potentially lead to or worsen diabetes.

Therefore, nonsurgical periodontal treatment is a vital way for patients with type-2 diabetes to improve your health outcomes and reduce healthcare costs over your lifetime.

Periodontal treatment and maintenance can help type-2 diabetes patients achieve:

  • 39% fewer annual hospitalizations
  • 34% reduction in tooth loss
  • 20% fewer cases of microvascular disease
  • 9% lower overall medical costs

Diabetes Treatment

For patients concerned about how to prevent diabetes, Henderson Health Group provides complete support on diabetes diagnosis and treatment. We also work closely with our partners at Henderson Modern Dentistry and Orthodontics to provide the comprehensive Mouth-Body treatment you need to achieve whole-body health.