Effect of Dental Follow-Up on Dental Consultation and Checkup Rates for Patients With Diabetes: A Multicenter Before-After Study

Background Patients with diabetes have an increased risk of developing periodontal diseases. Periodontal treatment also improves glycemic control. Therefore, regular dental consultations and checkups are important. Several collaborative efforts involving physicians, dentists, and pharmacists have been implemented to encourage dental consultations. Furthermore, pharmacists are legally required to provide follow-up after dispensing medications and to report medication adherence to physicians. However, reports on the involvement of community pharmacists in these initiatives remain limited; additionally, there are no reports focusing specifically on follow-up interventions related to oral health. Therefore, we aimed to create follow-up periodontal disease content for patients with diabetes patients and investigate the impact of follow-up by pharmacists on the dental consultation and checkup rates of patients with diabetes. Methods The study participants were patients with type 2 diabetes taking medication who visited pharmacies between November 1, 2022, and January 31, 2023, and provided their consent. We conducted a six-month follow-up using "FollowNavi^®" (Unike Software Research Co., Ltd., Minato, Japan) and evaluated changes in dental consultation and check-up rates. A questionnaire survey was also conducted to investigate changes in awareness of dental hygiene and understanding of periodontal diseases. Furthermore, a questionnaire was issued to patients and pharmacists to investigate the user experience of "FollowNavi^®". Results Follow-up was conducted in 113 patients. The dental consultation rate increased from 40.8% to 41.8%, and the dental checkup rate increased from 57.1% to 59.2%; however, the differences were not significant. The understanding of periodontal disease and awareness of prevention improved significantly after follow-up. In addition, the number of consultations on dental matters with pharmacists has increased significantly. However, there was no significant change in the HbA1c levels ​​before and after follow-up. Conclusion In a six-month follow-up using "FollowNavi^®", there was no significant change in the dental consultation rate or examination rate. Nonetheless, oral care awareness and understanding improved according to the questionnaire. In addition, among patients who had not visited the dentist in the six months prior to participating in our study, a certain number of patients newly visited the dentist during the study period, suggesting that follow-up by community pharmacists may encourage dental visits. Furthermore, the number of consultations on dental matters with pharmacists increased. Our findings suggest the importance of follow-ups for pharmacists to become involved in community dental matters.