Periodontal disease treatment may help reduce medical costs for patients with diabetes, according to the findings of a three-year study conducted by Cigna and presented during the recent International Association for Dental Research (IADR) meeting in San Diego.
The study was presented by Clay Hedlund, a Cigna dental director; Marjorie Jeffcoat, DMD, from the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine; Robert Genco, DDS, PhD, from the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine; and Nipul Tanna, DMD, from the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine.
In the study, patients who were treated for periodontal disease in the first year and then received regular maintenance care thereafter had lower medical costs than those patients who had previously been treated for periodontal disease but did not receive regular maintenance care. On average, medical costs were $2,483 per year lower (23% less) for patients with diabetes who had proper periodontal disease treatment.
The study corroborates the results of Cigna's prior research, presented at the 2009 IADR meeting, which supported a possible association between the treatment of periodontal disease and lower medical costs in the treatment of diabetes, Dr. Hedlund noted in a press release.
"With the increase in the prevalence of diabetes, and great concern for our ever-increasing medical costs, this study suggests that periodontal therapy may help reduce the disease burden, as well as medical costs of treatment for patients with diabetes," Dr. Genco added.
Drs. Jeffcoat and Genco are members of the Cigna Dental Clinical Advisory Panel.
