This study compared the number of healthy teeth in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients who had varying body
mass index (BMI) and assessed the association and predictive factors for the number of healthy teeth of T2D patients.
A cross-sectional analysis is conducted on data of T2D patients who registered with 30 of the 2012 mobile medical
units, received general and dental examinations and were interviewed on general behaviors, with laboratory test
results less than three months older before the examination date. The data include medical evaluations in the 2012
diabetes examination surveys in 30 District Health Promotion Hospital in Selaphum-Thung Kao Luang District, Roi-Et
Province. The sample of 352 was divided into 2 groups: normal and obese groups, each group with 176 subjects.
The normal group had a normal BMI, while the obese group had extreme obesity. Mann-Whitney U test was used
to compare data between the two groups. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression
were used to evaluate the correlation of variables. The study showed that the number of healthy teeth of normal
group was significantly higher than the obesity group (p<0.05). Most of the variables had a negative correlation with
the number of healthy teeth except for height. Among the variables, age and BMI are the strongest predictors of
the number of healthy teeth. T2D patients with obesity may be at risk of tooth loss more than patients who had
normal BMI, which affects the quality of life in the future.