Patient with type II diabetes mellitus

Correct answer: B. Prolonged healing time

• A. Diabetics typically have XEROSTOMIA (reduced salivary flow), often compounded by polyuria and by medications.
• B. Correct. Hyperglycaemia impairs wound healing through several mechanisms: microangiopathy reduces tissue perfusion, neutrophil chemotaxis and phagocytosis are depressed, collagen synthesis is reduced, and ADVANCED GLYCATION END-PRODUCTS (AGEs) accumulate and alter collagen crosslinking. The result is delayed healing and increased infection risk.
• C. Bone regeneration is IMPAIRED, not accelerated — which is why diabetes is a relative risk factor for implant failure and for periodontal breakdown.
• D. Diabetes does not produce a coagulopathy. Bleeding on probing reflects gingival inflammation, which is often increased in diabetics — but the defining surgical concern is healing, not bleeding.