Selected salivary constituents among 16-18 years patients with β thalassemia major in relation to oral diseases

Abstract EN

Background : Thalassemia constitute a form of anemia that has clear problems in relation to oral health.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the occurrence and severity of dental caries among patients with Beta-Thalassemia major in relation to salivary physicochemical characteristic and to compare results with healthy subjects.

Materials and Method : 41 β-Thalassemia major patients (31 male, 10 female) and 41 healthy control subjects matching in age and gender the β-Thalassemia patients were examined using the decayed, missing, and filled surfaces (DMFS) index.

Oral health status was recorded by application of plaque index (PlI), gingival index (GI) and calculus index (Cal I).

Stimulated salivary samples were collected for the determination of salivary flow rate and Ph of saliva in addition to the determination of concentration of calcium, phosphorus and magnesium.

Results : results showed that β-Thalassemia group had higher (DMFS), plaque, gingival, calculus, and phosphorus values as compared to control group, while β-Thalassemia group had lower salivary flow rate, pH, calcium and magnesium values compared to control group with statistically highly significant differences.

A negative significant correlation was found between DMFS with salivary pH and flow rate (p<0.05).

A negative highly significant correlation was found between salivary constituents (calcium, phosphorus, magnesium) and DMFS (p<0.010).

Conclusion : Patients with β- Thalassemia major showed highly significant differences in dental and periodontal diseases as compared to control group and therefore a special preventive program needed for this target group.