Association between sickle cell anaemia and dental caries among children in Nigeria

Sickle cell disease is a major public health issue that is associated with caries and oral health problems. This study aimed to assess the association between dental caries experience and sickle cell anaemia.

This was a case-control study that recruited children aged 4 to 16 years old with sickle cell anaemia (SCA) and those with normal haemoglobin genotype attending the Paediatric outpatient clinic of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals' Complex. Data collected included confounders (age, sex, socio-economic status, frequency of toothbrushing, use of fluoridated toothpaste, frequency of consumption of refined carbohydrate in-between-meals daily, history of dental service utilization, and oral hygiene status), dependent (dental caries experience), and independent (SCD status) variables. Multiple logistic regression was conducted to determine the association between sickle cell disease and dental caries experience after adjusting for the confounding factors.

There were 264 participants with a mean age of 9.41 ± 3.35 years. Thirty-nine children (14.8%) had dental caries: twenty-eight (13.5%) in the primary dentition and eleven (5.0%) in the permanent dentition. Although the differences were not statistically significant, the caries experience of children with sickle-cell anaemia was twice those without with normal haemoglobin genotype, both in the primary (17.9% vs. 8.9%, p = 0.058) and permanent (6.6% vs. 3.5%, p = 0.361) dentition. The presence of SCA and dental service utilization were significantly associated with dental caries (p = 0.04 and 0.001, respectively).

Sickle cell anaemia and dental service utilization were significantly associated with caries in the children. Children with SCA should be screened early for caries and preventive measures instituted.