Triage and initial evaluation of the oral facial emergency

Reasons for presentation of patients with orofacial emergencies include tra uma, pain, dysphagia, swelling, and rash. Causes include blunt, penetrating , and thermal trauma infections; drug reactions; and neurologic, dermatolog ic, and other systemic diseases. Attention must be paid to clinically appar ent threats to airway, breathing, and circulation, and evidence of evolving compromise of these ABCs must be re-evaluated.