Dental News - Temperature changes favour formation of dental abscesses, study suggests

Dental Tribune International

Wed. 1. August 2018

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DRESDEN, Germany: The temperature is currently climbing to 38 °C throughout Europe. While this heatwave is gruelling, it might also influence the development of dental abscesses, since the ambient temperature and climatic parameters such as air temperature, air pressure and humidity are considered to play an influential role. A recent study, presented at the 68th annual congress of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Mund-, Kiefer- und Gesichtschirurgie [German society for oral and maxillofacial surgery] in Dresden, found that great temperature changes favour the formation of dental abscesses.

In order to clarify whether “abscess weather” truly exists or is just a myth, the study examined 1,000 patients between 2005 and 2015. They were admitted to the department of oral and maxillofacial surgery at the university hospital in Dresden for the treatment of acute purulent abscesses in the oral, maxillary and facial area. For each case, the abscess location and the cause were recorded. At the same time, weather data such as air temperature, air pressure and humidity at the Dresden-Klotzsche weather station were analysed on the day of admission and on the previous days. The findings were then compared.

The results of the study showed that more patients with abscesses presented to the university hospital during times of great temperature changes. In contrast to these dynamic parameters, the static weather data, such as temperature, air pressure and humidity, had no statistically significant influence on the frequency of abscesses.

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One thought on “Temperature changes favour formation of dental abscesses, study suggests”

Steen Schmidt Nielsen says:

August 3, 2018 at 8:08 am

I worked in Italy for 28 Years, and each summer when temp. raised over 35 degrees, I han many complications after interventions in the mouth.

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