Cervico-facial cellulitis: descriptive study - ROS - 2016 - Tome 45 - N°4

Introduction.
Cervico-facial cellulitis of dental origin are polymicrobial bacterial infections affecting the cellular adipose spaces of the face and the neck. They exist under several clinical and topographic forms. Their treatment is both medical and etiologic. They may be extensive and become serious, even life-threatening for the patient, generating considerable financial and socio-professional repercussions.
In Morocco, the number of cellulitis cases has been increasing due to a poor access to healthcare, the belated treatment of patients and the misuse of antibiotics.
This article will highlight the prevalence of dental cellulitis in Morocco as well as the epidemiological and clinical profile of the affected patients; it will also assess the therapeutic coverage and the evolution in time.
Material and method.
A transversal study started in March 2012 and ended in March 2013 concerning all the patients suffering from cervico-facial cellulitis of dental origin consulting at the Center of Dental Consultation and Treatment in Casablanca was conducted.
Results.
The results showed that 54.3% of the patients were men. The level of hygiene of the patients was poor: 27.2% did not brush their teeth and 58% brushed their teeth irregularly. The advanced, suppurative and chronic forms amounted for respectively 40.7% and 13% of the sample. The main etiology was, in 81.5%, dental pulp necrosis. The prescription of antibiotics was necessary in 90.1% of the cases.
Discussion.
Poor hygiene, generating dental pulp necroses, as well as the high rate of advanced forms could be reduced if people were given an easier access to health and dental care.
The high cost of the treatment for cellulitis, with a necessary prescription of antibiotics and the necessity of a hospitalization in certain cases, could be reduced by effective and targeted prevention measures in order to reduce morbidity and costs due to these infections.
to these infections.