Man’s missing dentures found stuck in throat 8 days after surgery

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(AP) - Here's why it's best to remove false teeth before surgery: You just might swallow them.

An X-ray finally revealed the problem: the man's dentures, a metal roof plate and three false teeth, lodged at the top of his throat. (Source: British Medical Journal/CNN)

A medical journal is reporting the case of a 72-year-old British man whose partial dentures apparently got stuck in his throat during surgery and weren't discovered for eight days.



How it happened isn't exactly clear, but a half-dozen previous cases have been documented of dentures going astray as surgical patients were put to sleep.

Placing a tube in a patient's airway can push things where they don't belong, said Dr. Mary Dale Peterson, an anesthesiologist at Driscoll Children's Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Besides dentures, retainers, loose teeth and tongue piercings can cause problems, said Peterson, who is president-elect of the American Society of Anesthesiologists. Before a child's surgery, she'll pull a very loose tooth and tell the patient to expect a visit from the tooth fairy. "We can make a nice game of it."




"Stay on the safe side," he said. "Inform your physician of what's going on in your mouth."



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