How to Remember the Red Flags of Dental Infection

An easy way to remember everything about serious dental infection. Plus, the best states to practice dentistry and the Catholic Church making millions off Listerine

How to Remember the Red Flags of Dental Infection

Happy Thursday. This is The Eval🦷…reading dental publications can make your head spin- kinda like a slice of buttered toast on a falling cat’s back....think about it...

We stop the spinning.

Estimated Read Time: 2 minutes 14 seconds

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Searing the Red Flags of Dental Infection Into Your Brain

The Red Flags are jamming...and simultaneously helping out dentists everywhere.

The new band that is selling out amphitheaters across the country is helping you remember some important stuff.

From Humble beginnings…

The Red Flags were formed…when some very clever British oral surgeons came up with a nifty, little way to remember the red flags of dental infection.

In our typical way, Tipsy Dentistry decided to take a useful acronym and visualize it- making it so much easier for you to remember...

If you are a little behind the times, this is how Tipsy Dentistry works:

1️⃣We give you an illustration

2️⃣We tell you a story to help you remember everything you need to know for dental school and your clinical career

3️⃣From our trip to Fungal Funland to our bachelor party weekend in Vagus, we sear the information into your brain so you don't forget it.

"FATLIPS": An Easy Way to Remember the Red Flags of Dental Infection

The "FATLIPS" acronym will help you remember everything you need to know about the red flags of dental infection

🚩Red Flag #1: Failed Treatment

Let's take a look at the first member of the band

The flutist is our first memory trick...

A failure of treatment (think incision and drainage or antibiotics) may suggest that the organism is especially virulent.

The "F" in the FATLIPS acronym stands for failed treatment of dental infection

🚩Red Flag #2: Airway compromise

What's a good band without an accordion player?

Ask anyone attending a Wisconsin polka and you know it’s just not the same without an accordion player.

In the case of the Red Flags, it’s an accordion player that looks like they are having difficulty breathing.

The "A" in the FATLIPS acronym stands for airway...shortness of breath and a choking feeling should make you think of airway compromise as the next red flag.

The accordion player having difficulty breathing represents airway compromise as the next red flag of dental infection.

🚩Red Flag #3: Trismus

A tambourine player doesn't really need his airway to help out the band.

But in this case a zipped mouth and limited opening is a red flag.

The Tambourine player with a "T" and zipped mouth on his shirt stands for Trismus.

According to the FATLIPS literature, mouth opening is classified as the following:

  • Less than 3 cm is mild trismus
  • Less than 2 cm is moderate trismus
  • And less than 1 cm is severe trismus
The tambourine player represents the cause for concern when a patient has trismus

There's a few more band members we have to meet.

The bagpiper, cello player, drummer, and sax player are helping you remember the rest. Check out the rest of the crew👇



Three Headlines and a Lie

Spot the Pinocchio amongst the cold hard truth. You can’t handle the truth.



The Best States to Practice Dentistry

Salmon, Cheese, and Casinos

...these state staples are treating dentists' lifestyle well.

Anotha' week, anotha ranking.

Zippia, a career network website, recently did their own version of ranking all fifty-nifty United States (and the 1 district) on the best placed to practice for dentists.

The ranking methodology included…

  • Median salary
  • Cost of living
  • Location quotient- (a measure by the Bureau of Labor Statistics)

And The States Making the Podium...