Results: 3 inter-related themes emerged: (1) uncertain
knowledge—a lack of familiarity about the links
between periodontitis and diabetes; (2) unworkable
knowledge—that even if the links between periodontitis
and diabetes were known, it is impossible for anything
to be done for patient benefit given the differing
systems that medical and dental health professionals
work in and (3) isolated knowledge—the perceived
division that exists between the medical and dental
professions has the potential to negatively impact on
advances in diabetes patient care. The patients simply
wanted all the healthcare professionals to be giving the
same messages consistently and to help them access
the (dental) care they need.