Dental abscess and human dentition - emergency medicine revision
Concise overview
- Dental infections are common and usually odontogenic in origin.
- Definitive treatment is dental source control (drainage or extraction); antibiotics are adjunctive and should be used according to antimicrobial stewardship principles (GOV.UK dental AMS toolkit).
- Escalation is required for threatened airway, deep‑space spread or systemic sepsis (NICE NG51; Resuscitation Council UK).
Human dentition - key points for the ED clinician
- Humans develop two dentitions: deciduous (primary, “milk”) and permanent (secondary, “adult”) teeth.
- Adults normally have 32 permanent teeth.
- Permanent teeth begin to erupt around age 6; third molars (wisdom teeth) commonly erupt after age 17 and are frequently impacted.
- Typical eruption ages (approximate):
- Deciduous incisors: 6-10 months.
- Deciduous canines: 16-20 months.
- Deciduous molars: 10-24 months.
- Permanent incisors: approximately 7-8 years.
- Permanent canines and premolars: approximately 11-13 years.
- Permanent molars: begin from approximately 6 years; third molars (wisdom teeth) 17-25 years.
- Knowing eruption timing helps to identify whether a problem involves a primary or permanent tooth and guides likely management and referral.