the relationship between diabetes mellitus and oral lesions: a cross-sectional study based on cohort data of adults in southeastern iran

Background: our study investigated the relationship between the prevalence of oral lesions and diabetes mellitus (dm) in rafsanjan, located in southeastern iran.method: this cross-sectional study drew upon baseline data from the oral health branch of rafsanjan cohort study (ohbrcs), a component of the broader rafsanjan cohort study (rcs). the rcs, initiated in 2015 in rafsanjan, is an ongoing prospective epidemiological investigation within the framework of the prospective epidemiological research studies in iran (persian), with follow-up phases currently in progress. thorough oral examinations were performed by trained dental professionals, who identified oral lesions through clinical assessment. data concerning dm was collected from participants' self-reported medical histories, subsequently corroborated by a physician. to assess the association between dm and oral lesions, both univariate and multivariate dichotomous logistic regression analyses were conducted.results: of the 8640 participants examined (mean age = 49.95 years), 1698 (19.65%) individuals were diagnosed with dm. the study also identified the prevalence of several oral conditions, encompassing diffuse oral pigmentation (13.91%), non-diffuse pigmentation (11.5%), candidiasis (10.42%), red and white lesions (8.24%), leukoplakia (7.48%), herpes (5.06%), oral exophytic lesions (4.48%), and erythroplakia (0.94%). in an adjusted analysis, dm was correlated with a reduced probability of diffuse oral pigmentation (odds ratio [or]: 0.8; 95% confidence interval [ci]: 0.69-0.95). additionally, within the same adjusted model, diabetic patients receiving insulin therapy demonstrated a significantly elevated likelihood (6.63 times) of developing erythroplakia when contrasted with those not undergoing insulin therapy (or: 6.63; 95% ci: 1.23-36.26).conclusion: diabetic patients exhibited a reduced incidence of diffuse oral pigmentation. conversely, erythroplakia was observed more frequently in diabetic patients undergoing insulin therapy. further long-term investigations are necessary to substantiate these preliminary findings.