The linkage between diabetes and periodontitis is well established: one can lead to the other, and when both occur, they can make each other worse leading to significant numbers of teeth lost.  A recent research by the CDC  done using 9 waves of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1971 through 2012, involving 37,609 dentate adults aged 25 or older, examined their oral conditions. While about half of adults had periodontal disease, the prevalence of periodontal disease among adults with diabetes was even higher. The reasons for the increased prevalence of periodontal disease in diabetics is that  “The diabetes can cause the inflammation of the periodontal disease. It’s harder to heal and cure,” while“On the other hand, the patient has periodontal disease, so there’s infection and inflammation, and they are going to cause a problem for glycemic control.” On average adults with diabetes face 1.5 times the odds of having at least one tooth removed as adults of the same age without diabetes.