Sepsis After Wisdom Teeth Removal

Earlier in 2019 a case was described of a 25 year old woman from England who developed sepsis after having an infected wisdom teeth removed, see the post Risks of Keeping Wisdom Teeth: Infected Wisdom Tooth Removal Leads to Sepsis. However, having healthy wisdom teeth removed can also lead to sepsis.

In May 2019, a 20 year Wisconsin woman had all four wisdom teeth removed along with a few other teeth in order to allow for orthodontic treatment. Specifically the woman was addressing having her teeth straightened and correcting an overbite. The day after the surgery the woman’s sister was concerned with her appearance and swelling and had her go to an emergency room at a hospital.

Upon arriving at the hospital the woman had a temperature of 105 degrees Fahrenheit and a very low blood pressure. The 20 year old woman was given a CT scan and the doctors realized she had sepsis. She was later told if she would have waited another thirty minutes to arrive at the emergency room that she would have been dead. The doctors performed surgery to clear the infection. The woman remained in intensive care for three days after the surgery. She then was in another department of the hospital for another four days for ill patients.

The woman lost 25 pounds while in the hospital. She had to teach herself to walk again and had to have assistance with showering. The hospital stay left her with thousands of dollars of medical bills. It was later determined that the removal of the woman’s lower left wisdom tooth was the contributing factor to later developing sepsis. As a result of the complications, the woman was unable to have the braces for her teeth installed and is waiting to recover before proceeding.

While sepsis after wisdom teeth surgery is not common, it has happened to others before. This is described in the previous post on this site mentioned above and also by a user on Twitter:

Long time no see. Not a pretty picture but I got sepsis after my wisdom teeth extraction. I got a fever of 105F and passed out. Luckily my bf was watching me and took me to the ER and I’ve been admitted since Tuesday. Had surgery and can’t talk but I can breathe on my own now! pic.twitter.com/rxv2m6e8oC

— Nadine Ayalah (@MissAyalah) August 1, 2019

Reference:

1. Jimmy McCloskey, Metro US, “Baker, 20, almost died of sepsis after having wisdom teeth removed so she could get braces,” July 14, 2019, https://metro.co.uk/2019/07/14/baker-20-almost-died-sepsis-wisdom-teeth-removed-get-braces-10196552/