The risk of serious odontogenic infections in HIV-positive patients - A pilot study

Objective. The purpose of this study was to perform a preliminary test of the hypothesis that patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have an increased risk for serious odontogenic infections in comparison with HIV-negative patients. Study design. To address the research purpose, we used a case-control study design. A case was a serious odontogenic infection requiring inpatient management. A central was a nonserious odontogenic infection that could be managed on an outpatient basis. The ratio of controls to cases was 2:1. HIV status was determined by record review. Results. The sample was composed of 300 patients. Sixteen patients (5%) were HIV-positive. Overall, 37.5% of the HIV-positive patients had serious infections; this compared with 33% of the HIV-negative patients (odds ratio = 1.21; 95% confidence interval = 0.43-3.44; P = .79). Conclusions, The results of this pilot study suggest that HIV-positive patients do not have an increased risk for developing serious odontogenic infections.