Cutaneous Sinuses of Dental Origin

Abstract

The etiologic, diagnostic, and therapeutic aspects of cutaneous sinuses of dental origin are illustrated by analysis of 22 new cases. Unfamiliarity with this entity frequently is responsible for failure to recognize the dental cause of the cutaneous sinus. The most common cause of the cutaneous lesion was a periapical abscess. Sixteen patients presented a nodule at the cutaneous orifice of the sinus, and 6 patients showed a scar from previous treatment. Intraoral radiographs confirmed the clinical diagnosis in all cases. Previous surgical, electrosurgical, or radiation therapy of the skin lesion in 15 patients was not curative and was often disfiguring. In the 18 patients treated by removal of the involved tooth or retained roots and by curettage of the alveolar abscess, 17 sinuses healed with no direct treatment of the cutaneous lesion.