Multiple space infections are more commonly seen than
single space infections in odontogenic infections of the head
and neck region.2 This may be related to the delay in presentation
of these patients, leading to a spread of infection
along the path of least resistance.21 In the literature, the
submandibular space is the most commonly infected in
multiple space infections, followed by the buccal space and
submental space.2 Our data deviated from this trend with the
sublingual space (16.7%) being the 3rd most commonly space
affected, however the submental space followed closely
(15.2%). In single space infections, the submandibular space is
again the most common space affected, followed by the
buccal and submental. This is reflected in our data. The reason
why the submandibular space is most commonly affected
may be due to the fact that odontogenic infections are the
leading cause of head and neck space infections. The teeth
most commonly involved are mandibular molars.7,21 Infection
from these lower molars spreads to the submandibular space
first (least path of resistance and anatomy), followed by the
buccal and sublingual, which correlates to the data. In our
study, mandibular molars caused 71% of the odontogenic
infections.