The Institute for Oral and Systemic Health (IOSH) has received a $322,500 National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) grant to support a two-year diabetes study.

IOSH researchers have teamed with Columbia University researchers to conduct a secondary analysis of Electronic Health Record (EHR) data to enhance care of dental patients with diabetes. They also will work to discover the best model(s) to identify existing undiagnosed diabetes and prediabetes among Marshfield Clinic Health System patients and communities.

In addition, the research team will determine the burden of a diabetic patient’s level of glycemic control; disease duration; presence of other complications and comorbidities, which is the presence of two chronic diseases or conditions in a patient, on their oral/periodontal status over time; response to non-surgical periodontal therapy; and healing following oral/periodontal surgery and/or tooth extractions.

“This important work will help us develop practical tools for identifying undiagnosed prediabetes/diabetes in a dental setting built upon better understanding of the complex relationship between dysglycemia and oral/periodontal disease and will give dental care teams actionable information to mitigate the deleterious effects of diabetes,” said Amit Acharya, Ph.D., B.D.S., IOSH director, Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation (MCRF), and principal investigator of this study.

Diabetes mellitus is a major health concern as 8.3 percent of the U.S. population has diabetes and one quarter of those affected remain undiagnosed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Prediabetes often precedes type 2 diabetes and is estimated to affect 35 percent of adults. About nine out of 10 prediabetic individuals do not know they have the condition.

The American Diabetes Association endorses that early identification of diabetes and prediabetes allows for interventions to improve outcomes. Direct and indirect health care costs associated with diabetes in the U.S. are more than $200 billion a year.

Dental providers have the opportunity to participate in screening people with undiagnosed diabetes and prediabetes as part of their commitment to oral and overall health. Currently, patients with unknown diabetes and prediabetes are passing through dental clinics, leaving clues to their status. Meanwhile, the disease goes unchecked and continues to damage these patients’ health.

“This study will provide new and beneficial knowledge to the dental community that will fundamentally reframe the contact dental clinics have with their patients,” Dr. Acharya said. “Dental care is hardly ever thought of as being lifesaving, but identifying those with previously undiagnosed diabetes and prediabetes and forecasting incident disease has the potential to save lives.”

Results from this work will rapidly move beyond having theoretical impact.

“Dental clinics stand ready to accept the knowledge that this secondary analysis will generate into their practice,” said Greg Nycz, director, Family Health Center of Marshfield, Inc.

“The reason such rapid translation will be possible at Marshfield and beyond is that we will be basing our predictions and analyses on a very large, longitudinal set of clinical data from a real-world clinical setting captured within Marshfield Clinic’s unique integrated medical-dental electronic health record,” Dr. Acharya said.

For more information about IOSH or this study, contact Dixie Schroeder, IOSH manager, at ext. 715-221-7266 or schroeder.dixie@mcrf.mfldclin.edu.