ngival sulcus depth in diabetic and non diabetic patients

Background: Gingival sulcus; Its an invagination extends between the gingiva and the surface of the tooth, it extends vertically from the free gingival margin to the dentogingival junction, gingival sulcus normally has a depth at about 0.5-3 mm, with an average of 1.8mm. Any depth greater than 3mm generally can be considered a pathological state and a sulcus in this deep is known as periodontal pocket. The floor of gingival sulcus and epithelium cervical to it termed as junctional epithelium, the wall of the gingival sulcus is lined by sulcular epithelium which is non keratinized stratified sequemous epithelium thinner than epithelium of gingiva, it has no epithelial ridges, so it forms a smooth interface with lamina properia, it continuous with gingival epithelium from above and with junctional epithelium from below. Junctional epithelium or attachment epithelium or dentogingival junction normally it extends from the bottom of the gingival sulcus towards the cementoenamel junction. The aim of this study was to determine the relative influence of blood glucose level on the depth of the gingival sulcus in diabetic and non diabetic persons.Materials and Methods: The samples composed of 40 participants (20 non diabetic and 20 diabetic) with age between (30-60) years. The diabetic patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and duration of their disease ranged from (1-21) years. The depth of the gingival sulcus was measured for all participants using graduated periodontal probe. Results: Diabetic groups showed a highly significant difference in the depth of the gingival sulcus compared to normal groups, also there is a highly significant difference among diabetic patients themselves in the depth of the gingival sulcus according to the duration period of diabetic mellitus. Conclusions: 1-There is a positive relationship between increase gingival sulcus depth and increase the percentage of blood glucose level. 2-There is a positive relationship between increase gingival sulcus depth and increase duration of diabetes mellitus among diabetic patients themselves.