Hyderabad: Two children who had a staple pin and a piece of metal wire embedded in their teeth were brought to a private medical college in the city for medical attention.
The cases have been recorded in the International Journal of Applied Basic Medical Research.
Senior dentist Dr Jawla Chaitanya explained, “Such instances of foreign objects like pencil lead, darning needles, metal screws, beads, staple pins and toothpicks being stuck inside or half broken inside are sometimes found in permanent teeth. In primary teeth or milk teeth, these are rare. Children have primary teeth from the age group of six months to 13 years and to have such objects stuck in those set of teeth can lead to complications.”
The cases included an eight-year-old child who had a metal wire measuring 7 mm and four non-metallic objects measuring 5 mm in the milk teeth. The removed portion of the wire was corroded and also covered with food and bacterial growth. The child had been complaining of pain for six months but only when the pain became unbearable did the parents take the child to a hospital.
In another case, a seven-year-old child had been complaining of pain in the upper left tooth which was treated with medicines. When the pain subsided there was no follow-up. But after five months, the child developed a habit of inserting objects in the open chamber of the tooth where the milk teeth had fallen out. This led to a lot of pain and swelling in the upper cavity of the mouth. The child was diagnosed by a dentist and there was a small black patch in the open chamber. The doctors operated and removed a staple pin measuring 5.5 mm covered with food particles. The gums in the upper cavity were swollen. The parents were not aware of how the pin found its way into the child’s mouth.
A professor at Government Dental College and Hospital, Dr Jagdeesh S explained, “Cases of foreign objects being stuck in teeth are 3 per cent in India. In a lot of cases, people come to the hospital immediately if it cannot be removed at home. There is a delay only in those cases where the person is dependent on others like a child or there is no proper diagnosis.”
