Pulmonary aspiration of a two-unit bridge during a deep sleep

Aspiration of teeth and dental restorations is a recognized, yet an infrequent happening in the literature. Main reasons of aspiration are maxillofacial trauma, dental treatment procedures or ethanol intoxication and dementia. The present case of a 2-unit bridge aspiration is however, not related with any trauma, dental procedure or systemic disease. A 37-year-old male patient had aspirated his bridge while sleeping and the bridge remained unidentified for 1 year despite the radiographic controls. He was then referred to the Chest Diseases Department of School of Medicine, Ege University and the radio-opaque object in the right intermediate bronchus was diagnosed to be an aspirated dental prosthesis. Subsequent to the failure of the rigid bronchoscopy, the patient was referred to the Thoracic Surgery Department and had to be operated for retrieval of the foreign body.