Abstract
The aims of this study are to determine the prevalence of dental caries among thalassaemic major patients and compare the results with normal subjects. The study sample consisted of (35) thalassaemic patients and (35) non thalassaemic controls, all aged (14-22) years. Examination of the patient's teeth for dental caries prevalence in the two groups was performed using two methods: clinical and transillumination. There was no statistical difference in the prevalence and severity of dental carries between thalassaemic and non-thalassaemic groups. The results of this study indicate that the percentage of treated teeth in thalassaemic group was very low in comparison with non thalassaemic patients and this difference is statistically significant for all age groups except the last age group (20-22), where it is not significant.