OBJECTIVE—To evaluate the level of oral disease in children and adolescents with diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—Dental caries and periodontal disease were clinically assessed in 182 children and adolescents (6–18 years of age) with diabetes and 160 nondiabetic control subjects. RESULTS—There were no differences between case and control subjects with respect to dental caries. Children with diabetes had significantly higher plaque and gingival inflammation levels compared with control subjects. The number of teeth with evidence of attachment loss (the hallmark of periodontal disease) was significantly greater in children with diabetes (5.79 ± 5.34 vs. 1.53 ± 3.05 in control subjects, unadjusted P < 0.001). When controlling for age, sex, ethnicity, gingival bleeding, and frequency of dental visits, diabetes remained a highly significant correlate of periodontitis, especially in the 12- to 18-year-old subgroup. In the case group, BMI was significantly correlated with destruction of connective tissue attachment and bone, but duration of diabetes and mean HbA1c were not. CONCLUSIONS—Our findings suggest that periodontal destruction can start very early in life in diabetes and becomes more prominent as children become adolescents. Programs designed to promote periodontal disease prevention and treatment should be provided to young patients with diabetes.

These findings demonstrate an association between diabetes and an increased risk for periodontal destruction even very early in life, and suggest that programmes to address periodontal needs should be the standard of care for diabetic youth.

These findings suggest that accelerated periodontal destruction in young people with diabetes is related to the level of metabolic control. Good metabolic control may be important in addressing periodontal complications in young patients with diabetes, similarly to what is well established for other systemic complications of this disease.

Children with diabetes exhibit accelerated tooth eruption. Future studies need to ascertain the role of such aberrations in dental development and complications such as malocclusion, impaired oral hygiene, and periodontal disease. The standards of care for children with diabetes should include screening and referral programs aimed at oral health promotion and disease prevention.

This study assessed the merits of introducing a novel, online interactive training module designed to positively engage dental students and teach them to recognize and report signs of child abuse and neglect. The study aimed to determine if the online training module educated the students equivalently or better than a lecture presentation of the same content. Seventy-two students from Columbia University College of Dental Medicine's class of 2015 (90 percent of the class) agreed to participate and were randomly assigned to either a traditional lecture-based presentation or the online training module. Study participants were given a twenty-question multiple-choice pretest on their knowledge of child abuse recognition and reporting prior to the start of the study. The same instrument was administered as a posttest. At the end of the training, questionnaires were also given to both groups to assess students' perceptions of the two educational methodologies. The results showed that the interactive online training module was more effective than the lecture-based method. Results of the posttest comparison of the two groups were statistically signiicant (p<0.05) in favor of the online training group. Additionally, the students reported that the interactive online training module was engaging and a helpful resource, but on average they did not prefer it as a total replacement for the lecturebased approach.Mr.