Is there an epidemic of admissions for surgical treatment of dental abscesses in the UK?

doi:10.1136/bmj.39549.605602.BE

BMJ 2008;336:1219-1220 (31 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.39549.605602.BE

Analysis

Is there an epidemic of admissions for surgical treatment of dental abscesses in the UK?

Steven J Thomas, consultant maxillofacial surgeon and senior lecturer¹, Charlotte Atkinson, lecturer in nutrition², Ceri Hughes, consultant maxillofacial surgeon¹, Peter Revington, consultant maxillofacial surgeon³, Andrew R Ness, professor of epidemiology²

¹ Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Bristol, Bristol BS1 2LY , ² Department of Oral and Dental Science, University of Bristol, Bristol BS1 2LY, ³ North Bristol NHS Trust, Bristol BS16 1LE

Correspondence to: S J Thomas Steve.Thomas@bristol.ac.uk

Steven J Thomas and colleagues think that recent changes indental care provision have led to increased numbers of hospitaladmissions for dental abscess, and they suggest that accessto routine and emergency dental care needs to be reviewed

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Three complicated cases of dental abscess that presented inBristol over a six month period in 2006 prompted us to investigatethe frequency of admission for surgical treatment of dentalabscess. Analysis of routine data on hospital admissions indicatesthat the number of admissions for surgical drainage of dentalabscess has increased since the turn of the century.

Dental sepsis is preventable

Dental sepsiscan have serious local and systemic consequences

Dental abscessmay present to both medical and dental practitioners

Hospitaladmissions for drainage of dental abscess have doubled in thepast 10 years

Access to routine and emergency dental care needsto be reviewed

In March 2006, a 48 year old woman was referred by her generalpractitioner to the accident and emergency department with asubmandibular swelling, which had been present for a week. Shewas diagnosed as having a right submandibular abscess secondaryto a carious . . . [Full text of this article]

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Robertson, D., Smith, A. J. (2009). The microbiology of the acute dental abscess. J Med Microbiol 58: 155-162 [Abstract] [Full text]
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