infection

Patients Wisdom Teeth Extraction Results in Reactive Arthritis

by

An interesting article titled “Reactive Arthritis Resulting From Postoperative Complications of Third Molar Extraction: A Case Report,” appears in Cureus in August 23, 2022, written by Lauren Maytin and Jeffrey Morrison (vol. 14, no. 8, pp. e28325). The article presents a case report of a 23 year old woman who develped reactive arthritis after wisdom teeth extraction. In the article the authors discuss a 23 year old woman who had a history of lower back and joint pain but developed more severe of symptoms of bilateral shoulder pain, decreased range of motion in her left shoulder, and worsening lower back after having an infected infected wisdom tooth extracted. She was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and and was prescribed adalimumab. Her laboratory results showed elevated indicators of inflammatory activity that were positive for HLA-B27. The woman presented to two weeks after wisdom … Read more

Man in China Dies Two Weeks after Wisdom Teeth Removal

by

Wisdom teeth surgery can in rare cases lead to death. This has been covered before on this site in blog posts such as Wisdom Teeth Removal Death in 2016 in Florida: Settlement Reached, Four and half million settlement in wisdom teeth extraction death, Two million settlement in wisdom teeth extraction death, Recent Stories on Wisdom Teeth Removal Death, Asphyxia Due to Compression of the Trachea Leading to Death After Wisdom Tooth Extraction, 12 Million Given After Wisdom Teeth Removal Caused Death, Wisdom Teeth Removal Leaves to Death Two Days After, and Air Embolism During Wisdom Teeth Removal Causes Death. In the middle of 2020 a Chinese man died after having his wisdom teeth extracted. The 26 year old man had his wisdom tooth removed at a hospital in the Hunan Province of China on May 25, 2020. He had continuous … Read more

Twenty something year old woman spends two nights in ICU after wisdom tooth removal and failures by dentist

by

In April 2018 in New Zealand, a twenty something year old woman had to spend two nights in the intensive care unit (ICU) after having a wisdom tooth removed. The woman had a lower right wisdom tooth extracted. This was after she presented at a dental clinic and told the dentist that she had experience on and off pain for over two years near the lower right wisdom tooth. Recently she had constant pain for over a week and and found it difficult to eat or open her mouth. The dentist diagnosed pericoronitis, which is inflammation of the tissue surrounding wisdom teeth and said the woman could either have an antibiotic to take or have the wisdom tooth extracted. The woman elected extraction. In the days that followed the woman “was in pain, her face was swollen, and she could … Read more

Lemierre’s Syndrome after Wisdom Teeth Removal

by

An interesting article titled “Lemierre’s Syndrome Following Extraction of Wisdom Teeth,” appears in the October 20, 2020 edition of the Cureus Journal of Medical Science (written by A. Keshary and M. Hagan, 12(10): e11061). The article describes a case of an 18 year old man who had his wisdom teeth extracted and then developed Lemierre’s Syndrome which rarely occurs after wisdom tooth removal but is is known to affect young and healthy adults; See Near Death Wisdom Teeth Removal Experience where another case has been discussed on this site in the past. Lemierre’s syndrome is a serious bloodstream infection typically caused by Fusobacterium necrophorum. It has a death rate of around 18% and thus if detected needs to be quickly treated with antibiotics. Very few cases of Lemierre’s syndrome after wisdom teeth surgery have occurred since antibiotics became readily available. In the … Read more

Wisdom Teeth Removal Leads to Persistent Headache and Viral Encephalitis

by

A person in Scotland had wisdom teeth removed that resulted in an infection. This lead to a persistent headache that was later diagnosed as viral encephalitis but initially missed. The person who had wisdom teeth removed did not have the proper diagnosis made by both oral and maxillofacial surgeons and when admitted to a hopsital, medics from NHS Fife at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, Scotland. None of the people who treated the person suspected an infection and the person was not given an MRI scan. This lead to encephalitis which is an inflammation of the brain typically caused by an infection. A complaint was submitted to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman for this case and they came out with a decison report that contained a summary of the case and recommendations. The board of NHS Fife where the person was … Read more