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Case Report
1 DDS, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Address correspondence to:
Takuma Watanabe
54 Kawaharacho, Shogoin, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8507,
Japan
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Article ID: 101407Z01TW2023
Introduction: Oral and maxillofacial surgeons often encounter foreign bodies, but they rarely find orthodontic appliances embedded in the soft tissue.
Case Report: Herein, a woman in her twenties was lacerated in the right buccal mucosa when the orthodontist cut the distal end of an archwire with end-cutting pliers. Although she was asymptomatic after healing, she reported discomfort where the wound had existed. Computed tomography images showed a high-density area beneath the right buccal mucosa, and she was referred to our department. We diagnosed an archwire fragment embedded in the buccal mucosa and successfully removed it using computed tomography images and without additional use of fluoroscopy or a navigation system.
Conclusion: Orthodontists should carefully consider other penetrative risks of orthodontic appliances. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons are often required to resolve these accidental events based on an adequate understanding of the clinical situation.
Keywords: Buccinator muscle, Foreign body, Orthodontic archwire
Takuma Watanabe - Substantial contributions to conception and design, Acquisition of data, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Atsue Yamazaki - Substantial contributions to conception and design, Acquisition of data, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Shizuko Fukuhara - Substantial contributions to conception and design, Acquisition of data, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Shigeki Yamanaka - Substantial contributions to conception and design, Acquisition of data, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Kazumasa Nakao - Substantial contributions to conception and design, Acquisition of data, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Guarantor of SubmissionThe corresponding author is the guarantor of submission.
Source of SupportNone
Consent StatementWritten informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this article.
Data AvailabilityAll relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.
Conflict of InterestAuthors declare no conflict of interest.
Copyright© 2023 Takuma Watanabe et al. This article is distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original author(s) and original publisher are properly credited. Please see the copyright policy on the journal website for more information.