Odontogenic maxillary sinusitis: a review

Abstract

Maxillary sinusitis of odontogenic origin is a well-known condition in both the dental and otolaryngology communities. It occurs when the Schneiderian membrane is violated by conditions arising from dentoalveolar unit. This type of sinusitis differs in its pathophysiology, microbiology, diagnostics and management from sinusitis of other causes, therefore, failure to accurately identify a dental cause in these patients usually lead to persistent symptomatology and failure of medical and surgical therapies directed toward sinusitis. Unilateral recalcitrant disease associated with foul smelling drainage is a most common feature of odontogenic sinusitis. Also, high-resolution CT scans and cone-beam volumetric computed tomography can assist in identifying dental disease. Sometimes dental treatment alone is adequate to resolve the odontogenic sinusitis and sometimes concomitant or subsequent functional endoscopic sinus surgery or Caldwell-Luc operation is required. The aim of this article is to give a review of the most common causes, symptoms, diagnostic and treatment methods of odontogenic maxillary sinusitis. Search on Cochrane Library, PubMed and Science Direct data bases by key words resulted in 35 articles which met our criteria. It can be concluded that the incidence of odontogenic sinusitis is likely underreported in the available literature.