Published online Nov 20, 2015. doi: 10.5321/wjs.v4.i4.137
Peer-review started: June 20, 2015
First decision: August 14, 2015
Revised: September 22, 2015
Accepted: October 16, 2015
Article in press: October 19, 2015
Published online: November 20, 2015
Clinical accidents involving dental instruments and materials inside the oral cavity are reported in the medical literature. Specifically, ingestion and aspiration of foreign bodies have greater prevalence in the routine of medicine and dentistry. Despite being less harmful than aspirations, the accidental ingestion of dental instruments does not always culminate in favorable prognoses. Mostly, complex conditions require medical intervention through endoscopy or surgical approaches. The present research aims to review the literature pointing out the specialties of dentistry most involved with accidental ingestion of dental instruments, highlighting the important role of endoscopy for accurately locating and retrieving foreign bodies. Prosthodontics, operative dentistry, orthodontics, and maxillofacial surgery arose as the specialties in which these accidents are more prevalent. Based on that, general dentists and specialists must be aware for the essential care to avoid such clinical accidents, as well as to know the available tools, such as endoscopy, to overcome these situations in the routine of dentistry.
Core tip: An effort should be made to avoid breaking dental instruments by preventing their over-use and over-stress. Rubber dams should always be used for hygiene control and to prevent patients from swallowing instruments. When the use of a rubber dam is not possible, dental instruments should be secured with wires to help avoid and accomplish retrieval. All parts of broken instruments must be retrieved immediately following breakage. If ingested broken instrument parts cannot be retrieved, the patient should be referred for a medical opinion.