Management of accidental ingestion of an endodontic file by a 3 year old child patient -A case report

Accidental aspiration and ingestion is a potential clinical complication commonly seen in all the field of dentistry where the manipulation of instruments and materials in the oral cavity creates an environment of risk. Incidence of accidental ingestion and aspiration have been reported in various articles and reviews in dental literature and it is observed that ingestion is the most prevalent emergency during dental procedures and is more common in pediatric population with 80% of cases occurring in children and peak incidents in the age group of 6 months to 3years of ages. 80-90% of ingested foreign items will pass through the gastrointestinal tract uneventfully while 10%-20% may require endoscopic removal but only 1% or less may necessitate surgical intervention. While these events occur infrequently in dentistry but the potential morbidity with a single episode is too high to ignore. Hence general practitioners and pedodontist should be aware of the associated risks of such mishaps and the importance of timely and appropriate intervention.