Lethal descending mediastinitis complicating dentoalveolar abscess was a rare presentation to us in Banso Baptist Hospital until now. Our data correlated well with previously published literature. The two patients are of Fulani origin in the Northern region of Cameroon. They are nomadic in nature and feed predominantly on milk and dairy products as staple food with very poor oral hygiene habits. In this case report, both patients had a preexisting history of untreated teeth infections which involved the mandibular molars, due to the proximity of their apices to the submandibular spaces. This may explain a rapid and downward spread of the infectious process which progressed to involve a large part of the neck and anterior mediastinum tissues [
13,
14]. In the first index patient the pathogens isolated were of a polymicrobial pattern comprising mixed aerobic (Gram-positive cocci, commonly streptococci) and anaerobic (
Bacteroides species essentially
Peptostreptococcus species) bacteria; while the primary and single pathogen isolated in both neck and mediastinum samples of the second index patient was facultative anaerobe viridans group streptococci [
13,
14]. The pathogens in both cases are essentially a very common cause of mediastinitis and deep neck infection [
13‐
16]. A complex mix of strict anaerobes and facultative anaerobes account for most infections (59–75%), which can prove challenging to non-specialist microbiology laboratories [
17‐
19]. One literature report described an interesting case of dentoalveolar infection complicated by descending necrotizing mediastinitis [
7]. In that case the infectious process was caused by polymicrobial flora (
Streptococcus constellatus and
Propionibacterium acnes) [
7]. Another author reported two cases of
Propionibacterium growth (out of 118 patients) in deep space head and neck infections [
20]. The poor oral health practices of Cameroonian Fulanis and the delay in presentation are the most significant risk factors for morbidity and mortality in these two patients [
21]. The diagnosis of immunosuppressive illness (untreated HIV infection) in the second patient corroborated the fact that an innocuous neck infection in such patients can progress inferiorly with significantly high fatality. An appropriate management of deep neck infection and mediastinitis includes intravenously administered antibacterial therapy and surgical drainage of the cervical and mediastinal collections [
16]. In our case immediate, extensive, and recurrent surgical drainage allowed for a successful and early control of the source of infection.