A CAN OF WORMS

                                Oral myiasis                                      

Those little nubbins gathered around her tooth are a happy family of freshly hatched maggots. Quite a large family I should add for there was one hundred of them all having a grand gingival feast. Must have literally been a can of worms situation for the dentist on opening the mouth and de-rooting a kidney-tray worth load of worms. This thankfully rare condition is named Myiasis. A condition that arises from extremely poor oral hygiene as in our case or even from minor dental caries (sweet-tooth alert!). Anything rotten in your mouth – Huzza, you’ve just sent out scented invitations to the Fly family…Our common guests being the Musca and the Chrysomia family. This is rare treat for them- a much wanted deviation from their usual meals like measly sheep, cow and goats.  Once their eggs begin hatching there’s no stopping their hungry little hatchlings. They eat and burrow and keep eating till you should be happy you have your maxillofacial bones left. And then again we shouldn’t forget our bacteria, always right on time add zing to any chaos anywhere, anytime. With these readily accessible pathways already paved by our larvae it’s will only be a cakewalk for the bacteria to gain access to the bloodstream and cause fatal sepsis. Unless of course proper intervention is made in the right time with enough disinfectants like turpentine oil and antibiotics like Ivermectin to ward off the infestation and to ensure proper oral hygiene to prevent recurrence. If you think the ick-factor is over –you are wrong. Our patient is a mentally challenged cripple thrown out of her family for ‘maintenance issues’. If that is not the greater ick-factor, then what is?