Identification of dental patients with undiagnosed diabetes

Diabetes mellitus is estimated to affect 371 million people worldwide. Approximately half of these individuals remain undiagnosed and a very large number of individuals are at-risk. Early identification of affected individuals may lead to earlier intervention and a subsequent decrease in the significant morbidity and mortality associated with diabetes. This chapter first briefly reviews a number of the screening recommendations that exist in the medical community and then reviews in more detail screening models that have incorporated oral findings to identify individuals with diabetes mellitus. The chapter also discusses the potential for a more active role by dentists in diabetes screening and the barriers that exist to implementation of a more active role.