From Volume 41, Issue 1, January 2014 | Pages 68-72
With recent reports of increasing hospital admissions relating to dental infection, the authors believe it is time to re-visit the importance of its effective early treatment. A series of three cases is used to illustrate the potentially life-threatening progression of what, in the early stages, is an easily treatable condition.
Recent reports have highlighted a worrying rise in the number of patients admitted to hospital for incision and drainage of dental abscesses under general anaesthetic.1,2
An article reviewing such hospital admissions in England as a whole found that the number almost doubled between 1998 and 2006.1 A group of authors in Hull Royal Infirmary have reported a less dramatic, but still substantive, increase of 47% in their unit between 1999 and 2004.2
Fortunately, death from dental sepsis is rare in the UK.3,4 However, there is still the potential for significant associated morbidity. A series of three cases is presented which have been referred recently to maxillofacial departments across Scotland. We believe these serve to highlight the ease with which a simple dento-alveolar infection can become potentially life-threatening.
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