title: Osteomyelitis of maxilla in poorly controlled diabetics in a rural Indian population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To retrospectively analyze all patients who were diagnosed with Osteomyelitis of jaws in our unit.
  
  
  METHODS
  31 patients with Osteomyelitis of jaws were analyzed retrospectively from 2002 to 2008 at the Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, S.D.M College of dental sciences and hospital, Dharwad, India. Parameters considered were age, gender, jaws involved, clinical features, surgical management & complications.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 31 patients, maxilla was involved in 16 patients and mandible was involved in the remaining 15. 11 out of the 16 patients with maxillary osteomyelitis were immuno-compromised. The predominant etiology noted was odontogenic infection. With the treatment protocol we have adopted, all our patients showed satisfactory resolution of the condition by 6 weeks.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Incidence of maxillary osteomyelitis & their association with diabetes mellitus was higher in our series compared to others. The cause for this high incidence was analyzed in our study. Based on our results we conclude that a conservative surgical method with an attempt to preserve vital bone and an appropriate antibiotic therapy with the correction of the underlying medical problems is adequate to treat Osteomyelitis of jaws.
authors: Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, S.D.M College of Dental Sciences & Hospital, Sattur, Dharwad, Karnataka 580009 India.
authors: Ranjit Kumar
authors: RK
authors: Peravali
authors: Bhushan
authors: B
authors: Jayade
authors: Abhijit
authors: A
authors: Joshi
authors: Mahantesh
authors: M
authors: Shirganvi
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Bhasker Rao
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Gopalkrishnan
keywords: Diabetes mellitus; Mandible; Maxilla; Osteomyelitis