Diabetes and the Dental Emergency

Ideally, if you are diabetic, you are taking good care of yourself and your teeth. You have regular dental checkups and are staying on top of your oral hygiene and are in the best of oral health. That is the ideal. The reality is, many people, diabetic or not, have not seen the dentist for a while for different reasons, including quarantining due to the pandemic.

On the one hand, that is completely understandable. CDC guidelines recommended that dental offices only see emergency patients and delay elective treatments until it was safe to fully open again. On the other hand, delaying regular checkups for some meant that small cavities that would have been caught during the annual examination were given time to develop into larger ones. No doubt some of those turned into dental emergencies with significant pain or discomfort.

Higher Risk Factors

People living with diabetes need to be mindful about their oral health due to certain factors that make them more likely to experience dental problems, particularly if the diabetes is not well controlled. When diabetes is not well controlled, there could be less blood supply to the gums, which can increase the opportunity for harmful bacteria to accumulate and cause gum disease.

Additionally, dry mouth is associated with high blood sugar. When you have less saliva constantly flushing bacteria out of the mouth, there is a greater chance that tooth-decaying bacteria will accumulate, giving rise to gum disease and cavities. These issues are less likely to occur when diabetes is well controlled, and regular dental care is a priority.

Inform Your Dentist

Make sure your dentist knows you have diabetes. In some cases, this may affect the protocol used to treat your dental emergency. Infections are a concern, and even more so with the diabetic patient. Your dentist may need to prescribe antibiotics as part of your treatment. Infections in the diabetic patient may cause a rise in blood sugar, which presents another concern.

Ideally, if you have diabetes it is well controlled, and you are taking good care of your teeth. If you should need immediate dental care and you have diabetes, let your dentist know right away and find out what, if any, precautions or extra measures you need to take to have safe and effective treatment for your dental emergency.

Sacramento Emergency Dentist provides excellent, compassionate emergency dental care. Contact us when you need a dentist immediately.