Facial Cellulitis of Dental Origin: Experiments from the University of Bouaké Health Centre (Cote d’Ivoire)

Context: Facial cellulitis of dental origin is relatively frequent and severe. Objective: The aim of this document to describe the epidemiological, clinical, therapeutic and evolutionary aspects of facial cellulitis of dental origin in Bouaké. Methodology: This was a retrospective and descriptive study carried out in the stomatology and maxillofacial surgery department of the University of Bouaké Health centre over a period of 19 months (January 2018 to October 2019). All patients with facial cellulitis of dental origin were included. The parameters studied were epidemiological, clinical, therapeutic and evolutionary. Results: 179 patients were collected (hospital prevalence of 20.79%). The average age was 34 years (min 1-year-old and max 80-year-old). The sex ratio was 1.18. Among the patients, some were craftsmen (31.28%) and others were farmers (21.79%). The favourable factors included the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (77.65%) and traditional therapeutics (44.13%). The average number of days before consultation was 13 days (min 1 day and max 75 days). There were 7 cases of chronic cellulitis (3.91%) and 172 cases of acute cellulitis, including 107 (62.21%) circumscribed cellulitis, 51 (29.65%) diffused cellulitis, and 14 (8.14%) necrotizing fasciitis. The causal lesion was tooth decay (96.09%) and dental avulsion without antibiotherapy (3.91%). Incision and drainage was made in 145 patients (81%) necrosectomy surgery in 54 patients (30.17%). The mortality rate was 13.96%. Conclusion: Facial cellulitis of dental origin are clinically polymorphic with significant mortality prompting increased dental decay prevention actions.