A Case of Buccal Abscess from an Impacted Wisdom Tooth in an Elderly Person with Malnutrition

Abstract EN

We report a case of buccal abscess caused by an impacted wisdom tooth in an extremely elderly person with malnutrition.

The patient was a 94-year-old man, who complained that he had found it hard to open his mouth and that his cheek had been swollen for the previous 2 weeks.

He had a shallow oral wound caused by an improperly fitting denture; however, the wound became infected.

We performed incisional drainage of the abscess under local anesthesia.

The swelling disappeared and he was able to open his mouth 55 mm.

The elderly have a high risk of healing failure of injuries and it has been reported that infection in a host in a compromised state is severely intractable.

This elderly patient was in a compromised state because of malnutrition.

Cases such as this one will increase as the elderly population increases.

Dentists need to consider the quality of life of patients with a longer life expectancy and should offer patients several treatment options before their general condition deteriorates.