Evidence-based dental management in the new era of sickle cell disease: A scoping review

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an emerging global health issue with rapid progress in therapy especially since 2017. However, systematic reviews found no clinical trials on dental treatment of SCD.

Using a scoping review approach, the authors examined citations from 13 national SCD guidelines and 10 books spanning 4 decades. The authors also searched the following databases: PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, ScienceDirect, Scientific Electronic Library Online, and GoogleScholar. Eligibility criteria included SCD, oral health care and dental treatment, related to oral and systemic health, original data, or observations.

Systemic treatment of SCD might have opposing effects on caries, perhaps explaining the conflicting results published. Malocclusion correlates with marrow expansion. Other unusual orofacial findings reflect ischemia. Of 86 full-text articles examined, only 1, a Brazilian esthetic dentistry study, was a randomized clinical trial. No disease-specific data were found on risk of developing bacterial endocarditis, safety of inhaled nitrous oxide, safety of epinephrine with local anesthetic, or the benefit of comprehensive oral health care.

In SCD, oral health and systemic health could be strongly linked. Penicillin, vaccines, and hydroxyurea might impact caries and bone. The interaction of SCD treatments and oral health merit study.