Oral Health Status of People with Sickle Cell Disease at a Major Hospital in Cameroon

Sickle cell disease is a neglected inherited condition that affects the hemoglobin in red blood cells and impacts at least 2% of the West African population. This hemoglobinopathy presents with high mobility and mortality as a result of infections and vaso-occlusive pain crises as a result of structural abnormality of the red blood, making it fragile and rigid. The objective of our study was to describe the oral health status of sickle cell patients in Yaoundé Central Hospital, Cameroon.

A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in the hematology unit of the Yaoundé Central Hospital from June to October 2022.

A total of 63 patients, made up of 41 (65%) males and 22 (35%) females, were recruited in the study. The majority, 60 (95%), consumed sugary foods, while 43 (68%) brushed their teeth before meals, and 27 (43%) brushed their teeth once a day. A third, 24 (38%), presented with pallor of the palatal mucosa, and 24 (74.6%) had dental caries. The mean decayed, missing, and filled teeth index of this population was 2.6 (moderate) and 11 (17.5%) periodontitis. Less than a third, 17 (26.9%) of the patients had been to a dentist, 26 (41.3%) did not see it necessary to consult a dentist, while 23 (37%) thought that oral conditions are not serious. Two-thirds, 38 (60.5%), did not receive any treatment for caries. Tooth extraction 18 (27.9%) was the most common treatment given, 5 (7%) conservative treatment, and no treatment was administered for periodontitis.

There was a high prevalence of periodontal diseases, moderate levels of dental caries, and elevated prevalence of oral mucosal lesions like tonsillar hypertrophy, pallor of the palate, lingual mycosis inflammation, and mucositis among sickle cell patients. The poor oral health-seeking behavior of the patients and poor oral hygiene practices might be responsible for the high burden of carious and periodontal diseases.