Head and neck space infections have affected mankind
since recorded history. Remains of early Egyptians have been
discovered with signs of dental abscesses and evidence suggesting
osteomyelitis.2 In 1928, Sir Alexander Fleming
observed that colonies of the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus
could be destroyed by the mold penicillin notatum. The
routine use of penicillin did not begin until the 1940s when
Howard Florey and Ernst Chain developed a powdery form of
the antibiotic. The discovery of penicillin significantly
changed the management of head and neck infections