Canine Fossa Infection

A 87-year-old woman with diabetes returns to clinic with left facial swelling (Fig.1 F).  The swollen area has no wrinkles.  Her second complaint is "I cannot open my left eye early in the morning".  The left bottom eyelid is swollen and reddish (Fig.1 L).  In fact she has several broken down teeth in the left top region (Fig.2).  One of them, canine (C), has the longest root.  It has root tip infection (*).  The latter quickly spreads into the face, causing swelling.  When it gets severe, the infection not only spreads to the bottom eyelid, but also to the eye and brain.  It can be life threatening.

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Xin Wei, DDS, PhD, MS 1st edition 10/18/2019, last revision 10/21/2019