Abstract
Foreign bodies may be deposited in the oral cavity either by traumatic injury or iatrogenically. Among the commonly encountered iatrogenic foreign bodies are restorative materials like amalgam, obturation materials, broken instruments, needles, and so forth. The discovery of foreign bodies in the teeth is a special situation, which is often diagnosed accidentally. Detailed case history, clinical and radiographic examinations are necessary to come to a conclusion about the nature, size, location of the foreign body, and the difficulty involved in its retrieval. It is more common to find this situation in children as it is a well-known fact that children often tend to have the habit of placing foreign objects in the mouth. Sometimes the foreign objects get stuck in the root canals of the teeth, which the children do not reveal to their parents due to fear. These foreign objects may act as a potential source of infection and may later lead to a painful condition. This paper discusses the presence of unusual foreign bodies—a tip of the metallic compass, stapler pin, copper strip, and a broken sewing needle impregnated in the gingiva and their management.
Highlights
Self-inflicted injuries are not uncommon [1, 2] and range in severity from simple nail biting to more extreme forms of mutilation, with oral trauma sometimes being the only presenting manifestation
The chance of these foreign objects getting impacted into the tooth is more when the pulp chamber is open either because of traumatic injury or a large carious exposure
Self-inflicted oral injuries can be premeditated or accidental or can result from an uncommon habit. These injuries usually result from a foreign object or a patient’s fingernail that habitually causes injury to the teeth or the gingival tissue
Summary
Self-inflicted injuries are not uncommon [1, 2] and range in severity from simple nail biting to more extreme forms of mutilation, with oral trauma sometimes being the only presenting manifestation. The more common iatrogenic lesions include apical deposition of endodontic materials, mucosal amalgam and graphite tattoos, myospherulosis, oil granulomas, and traumatically introduced dental materials and instruments [7]. Injury to both the hard and soft tissues may occur as a consequence of child’s habit of placing foreign objects into the mouth. Retrieval of foreign objects from the teeth in children is a challenging aspect of pediatric dental practice These objects can be retrieved if they are located within the pulp chamber, but once the object has been pushed apically, their retrieval may be complicated. We present four interesting cases of unusual foreign bodies in the oral cavity
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