Diabetes Can Affect Your Dental Visit

If you’re taking medication—prescription, over-the-counter, or even herbal supplements—you should tell your dentist. That’s even more vital if you have diabetes. Medications that help control insulin levels could interact with materials and medications your dentist uses, according to the journal General Dentistry. The dentist must know if you’re taking insulin and if you’ve had your daily dose. If you have diabetes, see the dentist on a regular basis and alert him or her of any changes in health status and medications. Report sores, swellings, red areas, or painful areas in your mouth. Eat a normal meal before the appointment, take all diabetes medications on schedule, bring a blood sugar monitoring device, and tell the dentist if you feel the symptoms of low blood sugar.^1,2

¹ “Medications Plus Dental Materials May Equal Infection for Diabetic Patients.” Academy of General Dentistry, February 22, 2008. www.agd.org/public/oralhealth/Default.asp Accessed 2010.

² “Pharmacologic Management of Type 2 Diabetes: A Review for Dentistry.” J.W. Little and N.L. Rhodus. General Dentistry. November–December 2007, vol. 55, no. 6, pp. 564–571.