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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Oral. Health
Sec. Cardiometabolic Health
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/froh.2025.1468995
This article is part of the Research Topic Deepening the Relationship between Diabetes, Oral Health and Periodontal Disease View all 8 articles

Cross-Sectional Association between Dietary Habits, Periodontitis, and Uncontrolled Diabetes in Hispanics: The LLIPDS Study

Provisionally accepted
Hunter Smith Hunter Smith 1David Travis Thomas David Travis Thomas 1Gabriela Nicole Vázquez-Morales Gabriela Nicole Vázquez-Morales 2Lakin Puckett Lakin Puckett 1María Del Mar Rodriguez María Del Mar Rodriguez 3Arnold Stromberg Arnold Stromberg 1Luciana Macchion SHaddox Luciana Macchion SHaddox 1Mauro Pedrine Santamaria Mauro Pedrine Santamaria 1Kevin Pearce Kevin Pearce 1Oelisoa Mireille Andriankaja Oelisoa Mireille Andriankaja 1*
  • 1 University of Kentucky, Lexington, United States
  • 2 University of Puerto Rico,, Cayey, Puerto Rico
  • 3 University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) is recognized as a risk factor for periodontal disease (PD), with evidence supporting a bidirectional relationship. Food choices are thought to influence both conditions, but research on their impact specifically on PD remains limited. This study aimed to explore whether food choices were linked to higher prevalence of adverse periodontal parameters and poorly controlled glucose levels among Hispanic adults with T2D.A cross-sectional study was conducted with 260 Puerto Rican adults aged 40 to 65 years, all diagnosed with T2D. Dietary habits were assessed by weekly frequencies of food choices deemed healthy or unhealthy over the past year. Periodontal health was evaluated by the percentage of sites with probing pocket depth (PPD) ≥ 4mm and bleeding on probing (BOP) at corresponding teeth. Glucose control was measured by glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels, with uncontrolled glucose defined as HbA1c ≥ 7%. Linear regression models adjusted for demographic and clinical variables estimated associations with PD. Logistic regression assessed associations with glucose control.The median Healthy Eating Score was 0.5 (Q1, Q3: -3.9, 4.5). A higher Healthy Eating Score was significantly associated with fewer sites exhibiting PPD ≥ 4mm and BOP (adjusted β: -0.02; SE: 0.01; p = 0.035), and reduced odds of uncontrolled glucose (adjusted odds ratio: 0.94; 95% CI: 0.89-0.98; p = 0.007).Conclusions: Adherence to a healthier dietary pattern appears to correlate with lower periodontal inflammation and greater glucose control among Hispanics with T2D. Prospective studies are needed to confirm causality and long-term effects.

    Keywords: dietary habits, Periodontal disease, glucose control, type 2 diabetes, Comorbidity, risk factor

    Received: 23 Jul 2024; Accepted: 08 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Smith, Thomas, Vázquez-Morales, Puckett, Del Mar Rodriguez, Stromberg, SHaddox, Santamaria, Pearce and Andriankaja. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Oelisoa Mireille Andriankaja, University of Kentucky, Lexington, United States

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