Meeting abstract
Treatment of Acute Odontogenic Inflammation in National Health Care
Davor Brajdić
Darko Macan
Abstract
Acute odontogenic inflammation is the most frequent disease because of which patients come to the Out-Patient Clinic of Oral Surgery. In the majority of cases help can, and should, be ensured in the dental surgeries of National Health clinics.
The object of our investigation was to determine how and in what way, some dentists treat acute odontogenic infections and why they refer patients with acute odontogenic swelling to the Out-Patient Clinic of Oral Surgery.
We arrived at the following data by prospectively completing a questionnaire for 38 patients, selected at random, who had come to the Out-Patient Clinic of Oral Surgery, Clinic for Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery, University Hospital Dubrava, because of swellings of odontogenic aetiology.
Of these patients, 79% were referred by dentists, 13% general practitioners and 8% came on their own initiative. Two-thirds of the patients were referred by female dentists, mean age 38 years, while the remaining patients were referred by male dentists, mean age 41 years. Female dentists most frequently prescribe only antibiotics, 60% in our questionnaire, and 20% refer patients without any therapy at all or after trepanation and prescribed antibiotics. In the same way in 40% of cases male dentists refer patients without any therapy at all or only prescribed antibiotics, and only 20% perform trepanation and prescribe antibiotics. The oldest dentists, mean age 43 years, do not carry out any therapy at all, and antibiotics are only prescribed by those aged around 39 years, and trepanation of the tooth and antibiotics are prescribed by the youngest dentists, mean age 34 years. The most frequent explanation for referring patients to our Out-Patient Department are: “cannot do any work because of the swelling”, allergy to medications, “cannot give an injection because of the swelling” and “does not have the instruments”. One third of the patients did not receive any kind of therapy prior to being referred to our Department. Trepanation and antibiotics were performed in only 18% of cases. In this investigation the most frequent method of treatment was the application of antibiotics (53%). Not one intraoral incision was performed prior to being referred to our Department. We performed intraoral incision in two-thirds of the patients and only 13% were justifiably referred to our Department because extraoral incision had been performed, i.e. three in out-patient departments and two in hospital.
The results of this questionnaire indicate the unacceptable attitude of some dentists towards treatment of acute odontogenic swellings. Thus, there is clearly a need for more intense undergraduate teaching and permanent training of the national health dentist on the problem of treating acute odontogenic inflammation, and for raising the quality of national health dental care with the object of reducing the occurrence of odontogenic inflammations and their complications, and the need for hospitalisation of such patients.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
2300
URI
Publication date:
15.12.2004.
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