Periodontal therapy may lower blood sugar.

• Position: Diabetes - Brief article

Periodontal therapy may improve metabolic control--lower HbA1C--in diabetic patients, suggests research by the American Academy of Periodontology, Chicago.

The study results indicate that such therapy may reduce a diabetic patient's HbA1C count by as much as 20% at three and six months following treatment. According to the American Diabetes Association, HbA1C provides patients with a picture of their average blood sugar changes in the past two to three months and gives them a good idea of how well their diabetes treatment plan is working. A healthy HbA1C count is between the ranges of 4.0 to 6.0.

"Conventional treatment for chronic moderate generalized periodontitis, which included a simple, nonsurgical procedure called Scaling and Root Planing, lowered the study group's HbA1C count from 7.2 to 5.7," the study states. "This could significantly put diabetic patients...