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. 2025 Mar 29;17(3):e81414.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.81414. eCollection 2025 Mar.

Treatment Behaviors of Patients With Odontogenic Infections During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Eiji Iwata  1   2   3 , Yuriko Susukida  1 , Junya Kusumoto  2 , Akira Tachibana  1 , Masaya Akashi  2
Affiliations

Treatment Behaviors of Patients With Odontogenic Infections During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Eiji Iwata et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Objective: Using a severity scale, this study aimed to investigate the treatment behavior of patients with odontogenic infections during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Materials and methods: This study included patients admitted for odontogenic deep neck infection (DNI) treatment at a single center in Japan between 2017 and 2022. Participants were divided into two groups: a pre-COVID group before 2019 and a COVID group after 2020. Patient characteristics, clinical data, and DNI severity were compared.

Results: During the pandemic, the number of patients with mild DNIs decreased significantly, whereas the number of patients with severe DNIs did not change significantly, resulting in a significant increase in the latter proportion (42/101 (41.6%) vs. 26/43 (60.5%); p=0.045). In addition, the patients in the COVID group were significantly older than those in the pre-COVID group (median 66.0 years vs. 56.0 years; p=0.018).

Conclusions: Our results suggest that patients with odontogenic infections, especially the elderly, may have avoided hospitals until their symptoms became severe during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: coronavirus disease 2019; deep neck infection; odontogenic infections; severity scale; treatment behavior.

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Conflict of interest statement

Human subjects: Consent for treatment and open access publication was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Institutional Review Board of Kakogawa Central City Hospital issued approval 2024-38. Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Distribution of outpatients and hospitalized patients by year
Figure 2
Figure 2. Changes in the number of hospitalized patients by year
Figure 3
Figure 3. Distribution of DNI severity by year
DNI: deep neck infection
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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