Unusual case of inhaled metallic dental bur during dental procedure in a healthy adult

Abstract

Bronchial foreign body aspiration (BFBA) is not a rare incident in children. It can be managed successfully with flexible bronchoscopy in most of the cases, except for some cases, which require rigid bronchoscopy or even surgical intervention such as thoracotomy. Here, we report an unusual case of BFBA of metallic dental bur in a healthy 24-year-old dental nurse assistant, who was herself undergoing a dental procedure to remove dental caries, and suddenly the foreign body which was “diamond metallic dental bur” has slipped into her mouth and was aspirated to the bronchial tree. It was successfully removed 5 days after the incident using rigid and fiberoptic bronchoscopy with full recovery.

Keywords

• Bronchial foreign body aspiration; fiberoptic bronchoscopy; metallic dental bur