MODERN CLINICAL AND LABORATORY EXAMINATION AND DIAGNOSTIC METHODS FOR DENTAL CARIES IN PATIENTS WITH DIABETES MELLITUS

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) affects oral tissues through altered salivary composition, microbial shifts, and impaired healing, raising questions about how dental caries should be diagnosed in this population. Aim: To review and systematize modern clinical, instrumental, and laboratory methods used to detect and assess dental caries in diabetic patients. Methods: A narrative review of clinical, epidemiological, and diagnostic-accuracy studies on caries indices, optical/fluorescence devices, radiographic techniques, and salivary/biochemical markers in DM patients. Results: Visual-tactile indices (DMFT/DMFS, ICDAS) remain the diagnostic backbone but are increasingly supplemented by fluorescence-based devices (laser fluorescence, QLF) and salivary biomarker analysis (flow rate, pH, buffer capacity, HbA1c), which together improve early lesion detection and risk stratification. Conclusion: A combined clinical–instrumental–laboratory protocol, adapted to the altered oral environment of diabetic patients, offers more sensitive and earlier caries diagnosis than visual examination alone.