Dental health in sickle cell disease

What is it about?

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is one of the most common blood disorders typically inherited from one’s parents. It is presented with a wide variety of clinical symptoms, and varied degrees of severity that can be determined based on the phase during which the disease is diagnosed, the age of the patient, number of hospitalisations in the past, requirement for continuous drug use and for blood transfusions, in addition to several other factors. It is highly critical that the physicians should be aware of the oral manifestations and physiopathology of the disease. Additionally, the dental surgeons should cautiously obtain the patient’s clinical history and collect information about specific features so that they can build up a plan for any dental treatment that is in accordance to the patient’s limitations and requirements. Maintaining a complete chart recording the general patient information along with periodically updating the medical history of the patient should be practise by all the physicians. The treatment strategy should focus on the achievement and maintenance of oral health and to decrease the risks of dental complications.

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Why is it important?

The literature summarizes the treatment of dental complications in patients with SCD.