Management of odontogenic space infection with microbiology study

Dental infection has plagued humankind for as long as our civilization has been a fight against microorganisms by man dates back to ancient civilization. The discoveries of antibiotics are encouraging trends towards conquest of the microbial infection.

This study emphasizes the detection of pathogenic microorganisms by microbiological examination and culture of specimens representative of the infection, importance of early and correct diagnosis of infections, prompt treatment and supportive care.

The age group most commonly involved was in the third and fourth decades of life. Extraction followed by incision and drainage was done. The most commonly involved space was submandibular followed by buccal space. Thirty isolates were obtained. 43 % of the strains were strict anaerobes and 39 % were aerobes, with mixed growth was seen in 18.52 %. Amongst aerobes alpha hemolytic Streptococcus aureus and Peptostreptococcus as anaerobes were the most predominant followed by Bacteroides and Prevotella. Mixed aerobic and anaerobic isolates were obtained from 18.52 % of total cases. Overall resistance to Penicillin was 22 %, amongst aerobes.

Amoxicillin and Clavulanic acid combination performed better, as 100 % strains were sensitive to it. The results of this study saw a changing trend in terms of predominance of anaerobic bacteria over aerobic ones.