{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,13]],"date-time":"2026-02-13T11:52:28Z","timestamp":1770983548966,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":13,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,10]],"date-time":"2026-01-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1768003200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,13]],"date-time":"2026-02-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1770940800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":34,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"funder":[{"name":"HUN-REN Institute for Nuclear Research"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["BMC Oral Health"],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a chronic metabolic disorder that has been linked to an increased risk of periodontal disease. Among the oral manifestations associated with DM, periodontal disease has been the most extensively studied. Dental calculus, which forms when dental plaque mineralizes over time, is known to trap biological substances and may preserve biochemical markers indicative of systemic health. Therefore, it could provide valuable information about patients\u2019 overall health. In this study, we analyzed the elemental composition of dental calculus in diabetic and non-diabetic (control) patients using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) combined with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), with a specific focus on potassium (K) content.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Patients and methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We analyzed 57 dental calculus samples, including 17 from individuals diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and 40 from non-diabetic controls. The elemental composition was assessed using scanning electron microscopy paired with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX), targeting standardized 100\u2009\u00d7\u2009100\u00a0\u03bcm regions. Potassium content, along with other elemental data, was reported in both mass and atomic percentages.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      The results showed elevated potassium levels in diabetic patients compared to controls, with the difference reaching the treshold of statistical significance (0.484\u2009\u00b1\u20090.710 wt.% versus 0.186\u2009\u00b1\u20090.320 wt.%). A similar trend was observed in atomic percentage values (0.249\u2009\u00b1\u20090.387 versus 0.092\u2009\u00b1\u20090.174;\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u20090.0555). Notably, potassium was present in 100% of the diabetic samples. Carbon and oxygen were the predominant elements in both groups, with the diabetic group exhibiting a slight increase in oxygen and lower levels of calcium and phosphorus.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>These findings suggest that potassium concentration in dental calculus could serve as a potential biomarker for diabetes. They also highlight the feasibility of incorporating dental calculus analysis after routine dental treatments\u2014 which involve the removal of calculus\u2014for early diabetes detection. This approach provides a cost-effective and painless alternative to traditional diagnostic methods. However, we note that while the data are still preliminary, the results indicate a potential biochemical link that warrants further exploration in larger, well-controlled studies.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1186\/s12903-025-07442-9","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,10]],"date-time":"2026-01-10T03:25:12Z","timestamp":1768015512000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Potassium in dental calculus as an indicator of diabetes"],"prefix":"10.1186","volume":"26","author":[{"given":"Z.","family":"Szepesi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"R.","family":"K\u00e1llai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"A.","family":"Cs\u00edk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"I.","family":"Varga","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"K.","family":"T\u0151k\u00e9si","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"7442_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Chan HH, Rahim ZHA, Jessie K, Hashim OH, Taiyeb Ali TB. Salivary proteins associated with periodontitis in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Int J Mol Sci. 2012;13(4):4642\u201354. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ijms13044642.","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms13044642"},{"key":"7442_CR2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Forshaw R. Dental calculus \u2013 oral health, forensic studies and archaeology: a review. Br Dent J. 2022;233(11):961\u20137. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41415-022-5266-7.","DOI":"10.1038\/s41415-022-5266-7"},{"key":"7442_CR3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Rahim A, Hassan S, Ullah N, Khan U, Iqbal M, Ahmed N. Association and comparison of periodontal and oral hygiene status with serum HbA1c levels: a cross-sectional study. BMC Oral Health. 2023;23:442. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1186\/s12903-023-03042-7.","DOI":"10.1186\/s12903-023-03042-7"},{"key":"7442_CR4","unstructured":"Saini R, Saini S, Sharma S. Dental calculus: a strategic review. Int J Dent Health Sci. 2014;1(5):788\u201395."},{"key":"7442_CR5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Shirzaiy M, Heidari F, Dalirsani Z, Dehghan J. Estimation of salivary sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus and urea in type II diabetic patients. Diabetes Metab Syndr Clin Res Rev. 2015;9:332\u20136. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.dsx.2013.02.025.","DOI":"10.1016\/j.dsx.2013.02.025"},{"key":"7442_CR6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Mata AD, Marques D, Rocha S, Francisco H, Santos C, Mesquita MF, et al. Effects of diabetes mellitus on salivary secretion and its composition in humans. Mol Cell Biochem. 2004;261(1\u20132):137\u201342. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1023\/b:mcbi.0000028748.40917.6f.","DOI":"10.1023\/b:mcbi.0000028748.40917.6f"},{"key":"7442_CR7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Kallapur B, Ramalingam K, Bastian A, Mujib A, Sarkar A, Sethuraman S. Quantitative estimation of sodium, potassium, and total protein in saliva of diabetic smokers and nonsmokers: a novel study. J Nat Sci Biol Med. 2013;4(2):341\u20135. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4103\/0976-9668.117006.","DOI":"10.4103\/0976-9668.117006"},{"key":"7442_CR8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Yost S, Duran Pinedo AE, Krishnan K, Frias-Lopez J. Potassium is a key signal in host\u2013microbiome dysbiosis in periodontitis. PLoS Pathog. 2017;13(6):e1006457.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.ppat.1006457"},{"key":"7442_CR9","unstructured":"Lindhe J, Lang NP, Karring T. Clinical Periodontology and Implant Dentistry. 6th ed.Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell; 2015."},{"key":"7442_CR10","unstructured":"Cards C, Mosquera Lloreda N, Salom L, Ferraris MEG, Peydr\u00f3 A, Structural and functional salivary disorders in type 2 diabetic patients. Med Oral Patol Oral Cir Bucal. 2006;11(4):309\u201314."},{"key":"7442_CR11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Montenegro JL, Amorim RM, da Silva MJ, Cunha LD, Zamboni DS, Zorzetto-Fernandes AL, et al. Dental calculus stimulates interleukin-1\u03b2 secretion by activating NLRP3 inflammasome in human and mouse phagocytes. PLoS One. 2016;11(9):e0162865. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0162865.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0162865"},{"key":"7442_CR12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"White DJ. Dental calculus: recent insights into occurrence, formation, prevention, removal and oral health effects of supragingival and subgingival deposits. Eur J Oral Sci. 1997;105(5):508\u201322. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/j.1600-0722.1997.tb00238.x.","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1600-0722.1997.tb00238.x"},{"key":"7442_CR13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"de Candia P, Prattichizzo F, Garavelli S, Matarese G, della Valle V, Santoro C, et al. Type 2 diabetes: how much of an autoimmune disease? Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2019;10:451. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fendo.2019.00451.","DOI":"10.3389\/fendo.2019.00451"}],"container-title":["BMC Oral Health"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1186\/s12903-025-07442-9","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.1186\/s12903-025-07442-9.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.1186\/s12903-025-07442-9.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,13]],"date-time":"2026-02-13T10:49:46Z","timestamp":1770979786000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/10.1186\/s12903-025-07442-9"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,10]]},"references-count":13,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,12]]}},"alternative-id":["7442"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1186\/s12903-025-07442-9","relation":{},"ISSN":["1472-6831"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1472-6831","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,10]]},"assertion":[{"value":"17 March 2025","order":1,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"26 November 2025","order":2,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"10 January 2026","order":3,"name":"first_online","label":"First Online","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"order":1,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}},{"value":"This study was approved by the Regional and Institutional Research Ethics Committee of the Clinical Center of the University of Debrecen on June 23, 2016, under the protocol DEOEC RKEB\/IKEB Prot. No. 4602\u22122016. We hereby confirm that the subjects gave their informed consent to perform the appropriate analysis.All procedures were performed in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and national research committees and with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.","order":2,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Ethics approval and consent to participate"}},{"value":"Not applicable.","order":3,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Consent for publication"}},{"value":"The authors declare no competing interests.","order":4,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Competing interests"}}],"article-number":"301"}}