There is a strong link between peritonitis (gum disease) and type 2 diabetes. The best advice is to go to a dentist and start with a deep cleaning.

From ADA, (Yeah I am hard on them but they do have some good information about type 2 diabetes, just not the best information about how to control it with diet.)

Gum Disease and Type 2 Diabetes

Saremi A, Nelson RG, Tulloch-Reid M, et al.: Periodontal disease and mortality in type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care 28:27–32, 2005.

What is the problem and what is known about it so far?

Periodontal disease is also called gum disease. People get gum disease when plaque destroys the gums and bone around the teeth. People with diabetes can get gum disease from having high blood glucose levels for a long time. Many people who don't take care of their diabetes get gum disease.

According to several studies, people with gum infection may be more likely to get heart disease. People with diabetes who have a bad case of gum disease may be at risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD, a disease of the heart and blood vessels). Heart and blood vessel disease is the number-one cause of death for people with diabetes.

The researchers wanted to find out if gum disease has anything to do with the higher death rates for people with type 2 diabetes.

Who was studied?

Researchers studied people who lived in the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona . They looked at a total of 628 Pima Indians who were at least 35 years old and had type 2 diabetes.

How was the study done?

This study was part of a study by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. People in this study had a physical exam every 2 years. They also had their teeth examined. People were put into one of three groups: no or mild gum disease, moderate gum disease, or serious gum disease. Researchers then checked on the health of everyone in the study and looked at the effect of gum disease on the death rate.

What did the researchers find?

After 11 years, 204 of the 628 people in the study had died. Fifty-four people died of heart and blood vessel disease. Most of those 54 people died of ischemic heart disease (a type of blood vessel disease that develops from narrowed heart arteries).

Most of the 204 diabetes-related deaths were a result of diabetic kidney disease.

People with type 2 diabetes and serious gum disease were 3.5 times more likely to have died from ischemic heart disease or kidney disease than people with less serious gum disease.

What were the limitations of the study?

Researchers studied only Pima Indians. So what they learned might not be true for all other people. Also, the study did not look at how much money people had or what kind of diet they ate. All of these things could have something to do with the number of people who died.

What are the implications of the study?

Gum disease may make a person with type 2 diabetes more likely to get heart and kidney disease. We need to do more studies to find out if preventing or treating gum disease will help keep people from dying of heart or kidney disease.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

http://www.diabetes.org/for-parents-and-kids/what-is-diabetes/mouth-care.jsp