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PATIENT SAFETY

"Where Are My Teeth?" A Case of Unnoticed Ingestion of a Dislodged Fixed Partial Denture

Gary Lau, MD^*, Vivek Kulkarni, MD, PhD^*, Gary K. Roberts, DDS, and John Brock-Utne, MD, PhD^*

From the Departments of *Anesthesia, and Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, Stanford University Hospital and Clinics, Stanford, California.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to John Brock-Utne, MD, PhD, Department of Anesthesia, Stanford University School of Medicine, 300 Pasteur Dr., H3580, Stanford, CA 94305-5640. Address e-mail to brockutn{at}stanford.edu.

Abstract

What are the dangers of swallowing foreign bodies of dental origin? How do we recognize when a patient has actually swallowed a dental appliance? How far should we pursue the retrieval of the appliance? We report a case of a patient with unnoticed ingestion of a dislodged fixed partial denture while undergoing general anesthesia and review the literature on dangers of swallowing foreign bodies of dental origin. Anesthesiologists should understand the dangers and recognize this complication when it happens, so that appropriate treatment can be pursued if necessary.