An estimation of haemoglobin levels in children with early childhood caries-a retrospective study

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate Haemoglobin (Hb) levels in children with Early Childhood Caries (ECC) and to find out whether there is any variation from normal values in Hb level in children with early childhood caries. Materials & Methods: In this retrospective study the Hb levels and dmft status of 281 children with ECC in the age group of 0 to 6 years were evaluated. The mean Hb values calculated were compared with the suggested normal levels by the World Health Organisation for the particular age group. Kruskal Wallis test and post hoc test comparisons were done to compare differences in Hb levels in 4 different groups based on dmft values in children with ECC. Results: Overall mean value of Hb in children with ECC was 10.93 ± 1.73 g/dl and mean dmft was 7.19 ± 4.3. Group 1 with less than 5 dmft value showed significant difference in Hb values compared to children in groups with higher dmft values (p≤0.05). Conclusions: Half of the study population had low haemoglobin levels i.e. below that of WHO criteria. Children with more than 5 dmft score had significantly lower Hb levels compared to children with less dmft values (p≤0.05). There was no significant difference noticed in the Hb levels in between boys and girls with ECC. This descriptive study results point that ECC can result in low Hb levels in children, however authors suggest that an analytical study with a control group should be done to test the hypothesis.