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

Abstract

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.