Diabetes and Dental Care

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month, and the importance of routine dental care is driven home by the fact that 26 million Americans are diabetic.

Recent surveys show 95% of people living with diabetes also have a form of gum disease.

And there’s a strong relationship in the other direction between the two conditions.

Dr. Maria Ryan, a dentist in Stony Brook, New York, says having gum disease greatly increases diabetes risk.

By 2050, one in three Americans is expected to have diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes accounts for more than 90% of all cases.

It can be prevented because it’s strongly linked to lifestyle.

Ann Constance of the U.P. Diabetes Outreach Network says a half-hour of regular exercise most days of the week and losing weight will drastically reduce the risk of contracting diabetes, especially if you’re older — by 70% if you’re over age 65.

Fourteen of the U.P.’s 15 hospitals have a certified diabetes educator.

For more information, you can contact any of them, or the U.P. Diabetes Outreach Network in Marquette.