A comparative analysis of paediatric and adult surgically drained dental infections at a university teaching hospital

Abstract Introduction The estimated prevalence of dental infection in the United Kingdom(UK) involving the supporting bone is 2%. From 2014–2015, there were 2,281 admissions in England alone due to dental abscess. We undertook an analysis of 184 dental abscess which required surgical drainage as there is surprisingly little within the literature on the same Materials and Methods This is a retrospective study of 184 consecutive dental abscess patients admitted from January 2016 to September 2019. On admission, all patients underwent OPG and baseline blood tests. Surgical drainage was performed under a general/local anesthetic. A pus swab was sent for culture and sensitivity. Results The submandibular space was the most common involved site and paediatric patients most often presented with a buccal space abscess. A lower molar tooth was the cause in 132 patients%. The white blood cells (WBC) and C-reactive protein (CRP) were both raised in 63.6% (n = 117) but were normal in 4.9% (n = 9). The remaining patients had either, WBC (2.7%) or CRP (28.8%) raised. Streptococci Milleri was the most common organism isolated in 66.6%(n = 42). There was no association between CRP or WBC values and the duration of hospital stay. Paediatric patients had a shorter duration of admission (1.96 days vs 2.81 days) and significantly lower CRP values (120.9 vs 45.7; p = 0.001). Conclusion Submandibular space was the commonest site involved and mandibular molars were most frequent source of infection. An elevated CRP value appeared to be a more sensitive indicator of infection in this study population. Adult and paediatric patients present in a different manner.