The association between sickle cell disease and dental caries in African Americans
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-1-2006
Abstract
This study sought to determine whether there was an association between sickle cell disease (SCD) and dental caries in African-American adults. A sample of 102 African-American adult patients with SCD from Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland, were matched to 103 African-American adult subjects, who did not have SCD. The match was by age, gender and recruitment location. Each subject underwent a standardized oral examination as well as an interview to ascertain risk factors for dental caries. For individuals with incomes of less than $15,000, subjects with SCD had more decayed (10.36 versus 1.58) and fewer filled (2.86 versus 8.45) surfaces compared to subjects without SCD with both differences being statistically significant (p<0.05) after adjusting for age and gender. The results suggest that low-income African Americans with SCD may be at increased risk for dental caries and are less likely to receive treatment with a restoration.
Recommended Citation
Laurence, Brian; George, David; Woods, Dexter; Shosanya, Adeyemisi; Katz, Ralph V.; Lanzkron, Sophie; Diener-West, Marie; and Powe, Neil, "The association between sickle cell disease and dental caries in African Americans" (2006). College of Dentistry Faculty Publications. 119.
https://dh.howard.edu/dent_fac/119
