Impact of diabetes on clinical periodontal outcomes following non-surgical periodontal therapy

Aim: This systematic review aimed to evaluate the impact of diabetes mellitus on clinical outcomes of non-surgical periodontal therapy. Materials and Methods: Searches were conducted in electronic databases to screen studies published from January 1960 to August 2018. The included studies had at least two groups of patients: chronic periodontitis only (P) or both diabetes and chronic periodontitis (DMP). Outcomes of interest included the difference between the two groups in probing depth (PD) reduction and clinical attachment level (CAL) gain following non-surgical periodontal therapy. Meta-regression was conducted to evaluate the correlation between the outcomes of interest and contributing factors. Results: A total of 12 studies with a follow-up period up to 6 months were included. There was no significant difference in PD reduction (p = 0.55) or CAL gain (p = 0.65) between the two groups. A positive association between PD reduction and baseline PD difference (p = 0.03), and a negative association between PD reduction and age (p = 0.04) were found. The level of HbA1c at baseline did not significantly affect the difference in PD reduction (p = 0.39) or CAL gain (p = 0.44) between two groups. Conclusions: Recognizing the study's limitations, we conclude that diabetes mellitus (HbA1c ≤ 8.5%) does not appear to significantly affect short-term clinical periodontal outcomes of non-surgical periodontal treatment.