Functional and Emotional Impacts of Orofacial Pain among Adults with Diabetes

OBJECTIVES: This study tested the hypothesis that persons with orofacial pain and diabetes will experience greater functional and emotional impact of toothache and painful oral sores than persons experiencing orofacial pain without diabetes.

METHODS: Using a random-digit dialing procedure, 10,341 persons were screened for orofacial pain for more than one day in the past 6-months. This study reports on 1,761 individuals reporting toothache pain and 876 reporting painful oral sores. A structured telephone interview assessed diabetes history, orofacial pain characteristics, oral health care behaviors, and emotional and functional impacts of orofacial pain.

RESULTS: The 6-month point prevalence for toothache pain was 16.8%, 9.0% for painful oral sores, and 9.6% for type-2 diabetes. Individuals with orofacial pain and diabetes differed significantly on many of the pain characteristics and health behaviors compared to non-diabetic sufferers of orofacial pain. Diabetics were more likely than non-diabetics to have pain every day, to suffer negative emotions associated with pain, to experience disruption of daily activities and sleep, and to make an emergency room visit for orofacial pain.

CONCLUSIONS: Although diabetes is well known to be associated with neuropathic pain, these results indicate that the experience of nociceptive pain is exacerbated by diabetes. Significant differences in emotional and functional status associated with toothache pain were found for age, gender, and race/ethnicity among participants with diabetes. Findings have significance for the subjective experience of diabetic oral pain, dental care outcomes and health-related quality of life among individuals with diabetes.