Double fracture and wedging of a sewing needle interdentally in an attempt at self-treatment: a case report.

Guy's and St. Thomas' Hospital Trust, London.

Dental pain occurring whilst abroad may present the patient with a difficult decision: to try and bear it with self-medication until he/she returns home or to seek professional help. This case report outlines a Korean girl's attempt at self-treatment, which resulted in not one but two fragments of a sewing needle wedging between her teeth, the second fracturing as she tried to dislodge the first. Her self-treatment exacerbated her problem and resulted in the need for surgical access to the site to retrieve the broken fragments. The case also illustrates the use of parallax radiography in determining the position of the fragments.

PMID: 11928345 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]