Dental abscess
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Dental (periapical) abscesses are an acute infection of the periapical tissue around the root of the tooth.
Clinical presentation
Patients may present with pain, oedema, and purulent discharge localised to the site of pathology with or without fever and tender cervical lymphadenopathy 1.
Pathology
Caries result in damage to the tooth enamel, which allows bacteria access to the dental pulp. From here the infection spreads down the root canal and out of the apical foramen where abscess formation occurs 2,4.
Radiographic features
Early dental abscesses, within the first ten days, may not have any radiographic features 3,4.
Plain radiograph / OPG and CT
- well-defined lucency at or distal to the root apex, usually <10 mm with or without surrounding (<22 mm) sclerosis 2-4
- the tooth or teeth involved often show signs of caries
- an empty socket may indicate recent extraction for infection
Treatment and prognosis
Some dental abscesses will spontaneously resolve but dental surgery and antibiotics are generally required 1,4. Most (~90%) will show some evidence of healing (bone filling the lucency) one-year post-treatment 4.
Complications
Dental abscesses can exert pressure on the root of the tooth, which contains the neurovascular bundle, and can lead to devitalisation of the tooth 5.
Complications range from contiguous or haematogenous spread of infection and include potentially fatal conditions 1-4:
- osteomyelitis
- meningitis and cerebral abscess
- Ludwig angina
-
deep neck space infections
- second and third molar periapical abscesses preferentially spread into the masticator and submandibular spaces (most common, ~80%), as the roots of these teeth extend below the insertion of the mylohyoid muscle which separates the submandibular space from the sublingual space.
-
Periapicalperiapical abscesses of the other teeth usually spread into the facial soft tissue or sublingual space as their roots extend above the insertion of the mylohyoid muscle 6,7 -
Infectioninfection of the maxillary molars can involve the masticator space, maxillary sinuses and palate. Infection involving the masticator space can extend intracranially through the foramen ovale along the course of the trigeminal nerve (V3 branch) 8.
- odontogenic sinusitis
Differential diagnosis
Possible differential considerations include:
-<p><strong>Dental (periapical) abscesses</strong> are an acute infection of the periapical tissue around the root of the <a href="/articles/tooth">tooth</a>.</p><h4>Clinical presentation</h4><p>Patients may present with pain, oedema, and purulent discharge localised to the site of pathology with or without fever and tender <a href="/articles/adult-cervical-lymphadenopathy-differential">cervical lymphadenopathy</a> <sup>1</sup>.</p><h4>Pathology</h4><p>Caries result in damage to the tooth enamel, which allows bacteria access to the dental pulp. From here the infection spreads down the root canal and out the apical foramen where abscess formation occurs <sup>2,4</sup>.</p><h4>Radiographic features</h4><p>Early dental abscesses, within the first ten days, may not have any radiographic features <sup>3,4</sup>.</p><h5>Plain radiograph / OPG and CT</h5><ul>- +<p><strong>Dental (periapical) abscesses</strong> are an acute infection of the periapical tissue around the root of the <a href="/articles/tooth">tooth</a>.</p><h4>Clinical presentation</h4><p>Patients may present with pain, oedema, and purulent discharge localised to the site of pathology with or without <a title="Fever" href="/articles/pyrexia">fever</a> and tender <a href="/articles/adult-cervical-lymphadenopathy-differential">cervical lymphadenopathy</a> <sup>1</sup>.</p><h4>Pathology</h4><p>Caries result in damage to the tooth enamel, which allows bacteria access to the dental pulp. From here the infection spreads down the root canal and out of the apical foramen where abscess formation occurs <sup>2,4</sup>.</p><h4>Radiographic features</h4><p>Early dental abscesses, within the first ten days, may not have any radiographic features <sup>3,4</sup>.</p><h5>Plain radiograph / OPG and CT</h5><ul>
-<li>the tooth or teeth involved often show signs of caries</li>- +<li>the tooth or teeth involved often show signs of <a title="Dental caries" href="/articles/dental-caries">caries</a>
- +</li>
-</ul><h4>Treatment and prognosis</h4><p>Some dental abscesses will spontaneously resolve but dental surgery and antibiotics are generally required <sup>1,4</sup>. Most (~90%) will show some evidence of healing (bone filling the lucency) one-year post-treatment <sup>4</sup>.</p><h5>Complications</h5><p>Dental abscesses can exert pressure on the root of the tooth, which contains the neurovascular bundle, and can lead to devitalisation of the tooth <sup>5</sup>. </p><p>Complications range from contiguous or haematogenous spread of infection and include potentially fatal conditions <sup>1-4</sup>:</p><ul>- +</ul><h4>Treatment and prognosis</h4><p>Some dental abscesses will spontaneously resolve but dental surgery and antibiotics are generally required <sup>1,4</sup>. Most (~90%) will show some evidence of healing (bone filling the lucency) one-year post-treatment <sup>4</sup>.</p><h5>Complications</h5><p>Dental abscesses can exert pressure on the root of the tooth, which contains the neurovascular bundle, and can lead to <a title="devitalisation of teeth" href="/articles/devitalisation-of-teeth">devitalisation</a> of the tooth <sup>5</sup>. </p><p>Complications range from contiguous or haematogenous spread of infection and include potentially fatal conditions <sup>1-4</sup>:</p><ul>
-<li>Periapical abscesses of the other teeth usually spread into the facial soft tissue or <a href="/articles/sublingual-space-1">sublingual space</a> as their roots extend above the insertion of the mylohyoid muscle <sup>6,7</sup>- +<li>periapical abscesses of the other teeth usually spread into the facial soft tissue or <a href="/articles/sublingual-space-1">sublingual space</a> as their roots extend above the insertion of the <a title="Mylohyoid muscle" href="/articles/mylohyoid-muscle">mylohyoid muscle</a> <sup>6,7</sup>
-<li>Infection of the maxillary molars can involve the masticator space, maxillary sinuses and palate. Infection involving the masticator space can extend intracranially through the foramen ovale along the course of the trigeminal nerve (V3 branch) <sup>8</sup>.</li>- +<li>infection of the maxillary molars can involve the masticator space, maxillary sinuses and palate. Infection involving the masticator space can extend intracranially through the <a title="Foramen ovale (skull)" href="/articles/foramen-ovale-skull">foramen ovale</a> along the course of the trigeminal nerve (V3 branch) <sup>8</sup>.</li>
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