Spanish 
Chinese 
Russian 
German 
French 
Japanese 
Portuguese 
Hindi Review Article
Dental Complications of Sickle Cell Disease
Samir K. Ballas1, 2*, Clarisse Lopes de Castro Lobo1 and Wellington Espirito Cavalcanti1
1Clinical Hematology Division, Instituto de Hematologia Arthur de Siqueira Cavalcanti—HEMORIO, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
2Cardeza Foundation for Hematologic Research, Department of Medicine, Jefferson Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA USA
- Corresponding Author:
- Samir K. Ballas
MD FACP, Cardeza Foundation, 1020 Locust Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
Tel: 856-745-6380
Fax: 856-795-0809
E-mail: samir.ballas@jefferson.edu
Received date August 12, 2014; Accepted date September 29, 2014; Published date October 6, 2014
Citation: Ballas SK, Lobo CLDC, Cavalcanti WE. (2014) Dental Complications of Sickle Cell Disease. J Interdiscipl Med Dent Sci 2:152. doi:10.4172/2376-032X.1000152
Copyright: © 2014 Ballas SK, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Abstract
Sickle cell is a complex inherited molecular disorder of hemoglobin structure. Recurrent painful vaso-occlusive crises are its hallmark. In addition, it is associated with chronic hemolytic anemia and its consequences that often require blood transfusion. Moreover, infection and progressive organ and tissue damage result in several morbidities and increased mortality. Almost all body organs and tissues are affected including the nervous, cardiopulmonary, hepatobiliary, gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal, genitourinary, endocrine and dermatologic systems. Although most of these systems are relatively well described and studied, a few other systems have been neglected. Most common among these is the otolaryngological and dental systems despite the fact that patients and providers are aware that dental problems among patients with sickle cell disease are common and are often associated with other
complications of the disease. This review describes the known dental complications of sickle cell disease with the hope that it may generate more studies and clinical trials on this neglected aspect of sickle cell disease.
