Assessment of Oral Hygiene Status, Periodontal Index, and DMFT in the Thalassemia Patients Referring to Shahid Dastgheib Hospital, Shiraz in 2010

Thalassemia is a group of congenital diseases and is identified by a defect in construction of α and β globulin chains. Due to the problems resulting from thalassemia, such patients require special attention regarding oral hygiene. Thus, the current study aimed to evaluate the oral hygiene, periodontal index, and DMFT in the thalassemia patients.
The present case-control study was conducted on 50 thalassemia patients and 50 healthy controls divided into 3 age groups of 6-12, 13-18, and 19-30 years. Each group was examined for plaque deposits, gingivitis, periodontitis, and dental caries using Plaque Index (PL), Gingival Index (GI), Probing Pocket Depth (PPD), and DMFT, respectively. Then, the data were analyzed using T-test and Chi-square test.
The results of the study revealed a significant difference between the patients and healthy controls in 19-30 year old age group regarding Plaque Index. Also, a significant difference was found between the cases and the controls within the 13-18 and 19-30 year old age groups regarding the mean of Gingival Index (P Considering the higher means of Gingivitis, Periodontitis, and dental caries among the thalassemia patients, training and taking preventive actions are recommended in this regard.