Severe Infections after Tooth Removal: a Retrospective Cohort Study

Objectives: The purpose of this retrospective cohort study was to determine the characteristics of patients hospitalized with severe infections after tooth removal.

Material and Methods: A retrospective analysis of medical and dental records of patients hospitalized with severe infections after tooth removal from their hospitalization and their dental records preceding their hospital admission. Descriptive statistical methods were applied.

Results: Of 109 patients included in the study, the majority (84%) of patients were above 25 years with a mean age of 42.8 (SD 19.6) years. The extracted teeth were most often surgically removed, and indications for extraction were predominantly a pathological condition in the dental or surrounding tissues. Only one patient had prophylactic antibiotics administered before surgical removal of the tooth. Surgical extraction of a mandibular third molar preceded hospitalization in sixty-three patients (58%) and a distoangular position was the most common (36%). Patients who had a mandibular third molar removed were significantly younger (P = 0.006) and had no comorbidities (P = 0.002) in contrast to those with any other tooth removed.

Conclusions: Patients developing severe infections after tooth removal are characterized by the extraction of mandibular third molars, pathologic conditions related to the teeth removed, and absence of prophylactic antibiotics during the procedure.

J Oral Maxillofac Res 2025;16(1):e2

doi: 10.5037/jomr.2025.16102

Accepted for publication: 31 March 2025

Keywords: dental focal infection; hospitalization; pericoronitis; third molar; tooth extraction.