Evaluation of Salivary Zinc Level in Chronic Periodontitis Patients with Type II Diabetes Mellitus and Non-Diabetics in Khartoum State 2019: A Case Control Study

Abstract Background: Zinc micronutrient is essential for human health, there is accumulating data that zinc level is altered in both diabetes mellitus and chronic periodontitis, but the exact role of zinc in the pathogenesis of those conditions stay unclear. The present study was done to evaluate the salivary zinc level in chronic periodontitis patients with type II diabetes mellitus and non-diabetics. Methods: A Case-control study was conducted in Khartoum state between June and December 2019 at Khartoum dental teaching hospital, Jaber Abo-alezz diabetic center and Al-Neelain University. Chronic periodontitis was diagnosed with CAL ≥ 3mm. Patients with Hemoglobin A1c ≤ 6.5% were considered as controls for diabetes. Salivary zinc level was assessed in 64 subjects, 26 systemically healthy subjects without chronic periodontitis (Group A), 19 patients with chronic periodontitis otherwise systemically healthy (Group B) and 19 diabetic patients with chronic periodontitis (Group C). Atomic absorption spectrophotometry method was utilized to measure the zinc level in saliva. The data were statistically analyzed by analysis of variance and Scheffe multiple comparison test utilizing statistical software SPSS version 20. Results: The results showed that salivary zinc level decreased in periodontitis patients with and without type II diabetes mellitus compared to healthy control (P-value 0.05).Conclusion: Low salivary zinc level may predispose to the risk of developing chronic periodontitis.