Anemia caused due to Iron Deficiency which is caused due to blood loss has many Oral signs and symptoms and it is important to a dentist to identify these and act accordingly. Iron deficiency Anemia is the most common type of anemia which affects approximately 30% of the world’s population. It can be due to many reasons and it has to be identified to help cure the disease. It can be due to blood loss, mal absorption gastrectomy and even with people having habit of eating clay.
Apart from the Systemic Signs and Symptoms the Oral symptoms re also important to identify Iron deficiency anemia and also for Dentists it is important to understand the symptoms to diagnose the cause and go ahead with the required treatment.
Signs and symptoms to look out for in Iron Deficiency Anemia:
- Pallor of Mucosa
- Recurrent oral ulcers
- Oral Epithelial cells become Atrophic
- Loss of normal keratinization
- Atrophy of Filiform and Fungiform papillae makes the tongue become smooth
- Glossodynia which is burning sensation in the mouth
- Dysphagia can be seen in chronic or long standing cases which is due to development of esophageal strictures or webs
Histologic Signs and Symptoms of Tongue in Anemic patients:
- Reduction of Epithelial thickness
- Increase in Progenitor cell layer but decrease in number of cells
- Cell size in decreased in the maturation layers in males
- Nucleocytoplasmic ratio is higher
- Lingual mucosal atrohy is seen in absence of other clinic findings
Treatment Planning for Dental procedures in Anemic Patients:
Any Detal procedures which involve Surgical approach should not be performed without making note of CCC (Complete blood count) and Hemoglobin values. The Hemoglobin values should be more than 10 g/dl for the patient to undergo any Dental procedure which is Surgical in nature.
In Anemia the clotting ability of Blood decreases because of the low oxygen tension affecting the rheological interactions between the cellular components of blood which are mainly platelets and endothelium thus affecting the clotting process.
From Dental point of view only the symptoms can be controlled like using antiseptic gels for the ulcers and mouth washes but for the signs and symptoms to completely subside the cause of the Iron deficiency should be fixed by taking help of a physician.
Good guide to the oral signs of iron deficiency. People often don’t know that conditions like anemia can be found by dentists like this. Thanks for sharing!