Re: Infection and Optic Neuritis?

Posted By CCF Neuro[P] MD, RPS on December 14, 1998 at 08:52:19:

In Reply to: Infection and Optic Neuritis? posted by Confused on December 13, 1998 at 22:04:37:







: : In the vast majority of cases, a tooth abcess (abscess) will lead to a brain :abcess (abscess).  
CCF Neuro[P] MD, RPS
Is this correct or were you stating that the most common complication of a tooth abcess (abscess) is a brain abcess (abscess)? I had a tooth abcess (abscess) following a wisdom tooth extraction and it simply burst into my mouth ( yuck ) and then went away. The only thing I did was rinse with Listerine, I was on no antibiotics and didnt seek medical attention. 2-3 times a day I pressed on the infection site and squeezed a bit of pus out, which eventually stopped 3-4 days later and the site healed normally. I also knew a guy at work with a tooth abcess (abscess) and he didnt get a brain abcess (abscess) either. What percentage of people develop this complication?
Dear Confusion:
Sorry for the misunderstanding.  It is NOT a common side effect of tooth abcess (abscess), to have a brain abcess (abscess).  It is a possible complication, but not a common one.  To get optic neuritis from a tooth abcess (abscess), one would have to have an infection in the area of the optic nerve (the brain).  Thus to get a optic neuritis from a tooth abcess (abscess), there must be extension of the infection into the brain.  Thus, it is very unlikely that your optic neuritis was caused by a tooth abcess (abscess).  I hope that this clears up things.
Sincerely,
CCF Neuro[P] MD, RPS