Dental Implants Singapore - can diabetic patients have it?

Diabetes is the 10^th leading cause of death in Singapore, with more than 400,000 people being afflicted with the disease. There is no cure for diabetes but it can be controlled through medication and lifestyle modification. Diabetes is also closely related to periodontal disease. Studies have shown that the ability of the periodontal tissue to heal is affected by the high blood sugar level. As such, diabetic patients are more prone to losing their teeth due to gum disease. Naturally, when it comes to replacing their lost teeth, patients with diabetes are concern that the diabetic condition may also affect the healing of dental implants. So, are diabetic patients suitable for dental implant treatment?

What is diabetes?

Diabetes is a condition whereby the body cannot produce insulin or enough insulin to drive the glucose in the blood into the cells where they are needed for energy. There are three types of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes are usually diagnosed in children and it arises from an autoimmune cause, ie the body’s own defence cells fail to recognize the body’s own cells and start attacking it, damaging the insulin producing cells. For this group, insulin needs to be injected daily. Type 2 diabetes are sometimes called adult-onset diabetes as they are usually found in adults and account for 95% of the cases. This is usually due to insulin resistance, i.e. the inability of the body to make good use of the insulin that it produces. This in turn lead to a high glucose concentration in the blood.

Relevance of diabetes to dental implant surgery

Diabetes is associated with a slower healing of the wound and a higher risk of infection. The ability of the body to repair is diminished due to the metabolic changes that occur in a diabetic state. A patient whose diabetes is not well controlled is a poor risk for surgery of any kind and is definitely not suitable for dental implant treatment. However, the operative word here is “uncontrolled”. A patient with diabetes has more to be concern about that dental implants as uncontrolled diabetes leads to a myriad of illness such as blindness, amputation and even death. As such, it is important that diabetes must be controlled, not just for the purpose of dental implants.

While diabetes cannot be cured, it can be controlled by medication taken in conjunction with diet and exercise. The good news is that once diabetes is under control, success rates for dental implant treatment I s no different from non-diabetic patients.