General approach to the treatment of odontogenic abscesses and cost analysis.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationships between age, gender, symptoms, treatment, length of hospital stay and hospital cost in a group of patients with severe odontogenic infection who has been admitted within the last 6 years.

Subjects and methods: This study was carried out on 30 patients who had been treated in Ege University, Faculty of Medicine, Otolaryngology Department with the diagnosis of odontogenic abscess. Variables such as age, gender, symptoms, systemic disease, imaging techniques, treatment modalities, hospital length of stay and hospital cost were analyzed statistically.

Results: There were 12 female and 18 male patients and their mean age was 39 ± 19.78 years. Antibiotics were used in all subjects and their abscesses were mostly drained surgically. The mean hospital length of stay was 8.1 days. There was a statistically significant relationship with the presence of systemic disease and hospital length of stay variables (p=0.017).

Conclusion: The cost for treatment of severe odontogenic infections in inpatient units is high in hospitals. Therefore, preventive and routine dental care should be given importance.