[Aspiration and ingestion of dental instruments--diagnosis, treatment and prevention]

Aspiration and ingestion of foreign bodies of dental origin during treatment may cause a gastrointestinal and airway obstruction or perforation, and may constitute a life threatening situation. Ingestion occurs more often than aspiration and usually does not cause any clinical signs or symptoms. Most often it will spontaneously rejected from the gastrointestinal tract by peristaltic movement without any coimplication. However aspiration always requires treatment since foreign bodies there may cause inflammatory reaction and even severe obstruction and death. This article describes one case of aspiration and 3 cases of ingestion of dental instruments and materials. We discuss the diagnostic procedure: evidence of clinical signs and plain radiography, CT and the use of contrast material in case of radiolucent foreign bodies. The modern technique of endoscopy is successfully performed for diagnosis and treatment of foreign bodies in case of aspiration with minimal complications. We suggest a step by step protocol of treatment at the dental clinic in the case of ingestion/aspiration of foreign body and discuss several prevention techniques.