Methods: After reading and signing the consent form, forty children were selected randomly from a list and invited, along with their guardians, to answer a questionnaire with closed questions about your general health, their socio-cultural conditions such as systemic disorders, age, gender, race and activity), their accessibility to dental services and the sector of dental services provided. Moreover, the reason for dental care as well as the routine of children regarding their oral health was also investigated. Three children withdrew from the study and were excluded from the sample. Data were analyzed descriptively.
Results: The main reason for hospitalization of children was painful episodes (57%); the mean age of the children was 9:54 (± 3.6); 57% are female while 43% are male. Most children were African-descent people and were enrolled public schools (60%). Children are mostly attended by the public sector (51.4%), and the main subject of care is preventive maintenance. Most (54%) reported performing oral hygiene practices often equal to or greater than three times a day, but dental flossing was not incorporated into this routine.
Conclusions: In this study, African descendent females from public school were the most affected by sickle cell anemia. Moreover, dental care is provided for periodic maintenance, also held by the public sector. This shows an impact of the maintenance of quality of life of patients with sickle cell anemia, one reduces the possibility of complications due to pain and infection arising from dental causes.