Addressing Barriers to Care in Odontogenic Infections: The Impact of Timely Surgical Intervention on Reducing Hospital Readmissions in Vulnerable Populations

Odontogenic infections are a leading cause of deep neck infections, with their incidence expected to rise due to the prevalence of contributing risk factors, such as uncontrolled diabetes mellitus and obesity. While the existing literature primarily focuses on the management of odontogenic infections in admitted patients, this study uniquely assesses clinical outcomes across all care settings and among a predominantly low socioeconomic status (SES) patient population. These data showed that definitive surgical source control (SC) was associated with an 88% reduction in the relative risk of 30-day all-cause readmission. The data further showed that, in patients admitted due to an odontogenic infection, 87% of those who had SC deferred until outpatient follow-up failed to return. Barriers such as lack of transportation, limited insurance coverage, and poor health literacy can contribute to this low follow-up rate. Therefore, in patient populations with predominantly low SES, clinicians must consider the benefit of immediate SC and the risk of the patient being lost to follow-up.