Luke Woodhouse was 35 years old and had no medical history when a toothache started bothering him more than usual.
He didn’t think much of it. In Moreton Bay, north of Brisbane, Australia, bacteria from a dental abscess had already entered his bloodstream and were spreading silently.
First came confusion, followed by diarrhea, chest tightness, and chills. When his speech began to slur and delirium set in, his wife Jennifer took him to Redcliffe Hospital.
There, doctors gave him a diagnosis no one associates with a cavity: sepsis, along with infective endocarditis that had already destroyed one of his heart valves.
They told him he didn’t have much time left without surgery. They opened his chest to remove the infected valve and replace it with a mechanical one.
Today, one year later, Woodhouse takes blood thinners for life and has regular blood tests, all because of a problem that started in a tooth.