Dental and maxillofacial investigation of a 9-year old thalassemic patient

We report a case of a 9 year-old Trinidadian girl of East Indian descent with thalassemia major presenting to the University of the West Indies Child Dental Health Clinic with two features of malocclusion as the chief complaints. Subsequent extra-oral radiographic findings included classical characteristics of Thalassemia major: enlargement of marrow spaces, expansion of the maxilla and 'hair-on-end" effect of the skull.