Garré's Osteomyelitis of the Mandible Caused by an Infected Wisdom Tooth

Abstract

Garré's osteomyelitis is generally considered to be synonymous with chronic osteomyelitis with proliferative periostitis and occurs most commonly in the first molar region of the mandible. We report a case of Garré's osteomyelitis caused by the infected tooth-germ of a wisdom tooth. A 12-year-old boy had a swelling of the right cheek and his right mandibular second molar was covered by gingiva with pus retention. X-ray examination showed a radiolucent area around the impacted tooth-germ of the wisdom tooth and extracortical new bone at the angle of the mandible. After preoperative treatment with antibiotics, the tooth-germ and extracortical bone were removed. The antibiotics treatment was continued for 18 days postoperation. No recurrence of pain or swelling has been observed thereafter.