Incidental Finding of a Foreign Object on a Panoramic Radiograph

This study's purpose was to describe a case involving the discovery of a foreign body in the ear canal of an eight-year-old boy, revealed during a recall evaluation to a dental clinic. A panoramic radiograph revealed a radiopaque object in the area of the external auditory meatus. The patient's mother reported one incidence of reported ear pain that resolved spontaneously, but the patient denied placing any object into his ear both in our clinic and at the time he reported ear pain to his mother. The patient was referred to an otolaryngologist, and the object was removed.