Clinical Insights of Antibioma in the Orofacial Region: A Report of Two Cases

Antibiotics are medications used as therapeutic interventions to treat and prevent the spread of microorganisms in odontogenic infections. An antibioma is a sterile, chronic, tough, thick-walled abscess that usually develops following an injudicious, excessive, repeated, or prolonged course of antibiotic therapy or inadequate surgical drainage of an infection. Clinically, an antibioma may present as a painful or painless orofacial swelling and may be associated with constitutional symptoms such as intermittent fever. We present two cases of antibioma in a 70-year-old female and a 57-year-old male, both of whom developed persistent orofacial swellings following previous antimicrobial therapy for odontogenic infections. These cases highlight antibioma as a critical iatrogenic complication of antibiotic misuse in dental practice and underscore the importance of antibiotic stewardship. Adequate surgical drainage remains the cornerstone of management of odontogenic abscesses, and clinicians should maintain a high index of suspicion for antibioma when persistent orofacial swellings fail to respond to conventional antimicrobial therapy.