When a Tooth Becomes a Foreign Body: A Rare Pediatric Airway Emergency A Case Report

Abstract

Foreign body aspiration is considered as a top emergency in children, which demands immediate detection and prompt medical response. The extraction of teeth as aspirated foreign bodies is extremely rare because their sharp edges make it difficult to extract from the distal airways. A two-year-old female patient had her upper incisor tooth aspirated after a fall which resulted in multiple unsuccessful bronchoscopic retrieval attempts leading to repeated hypoxic arrests. The case shows the diagnostic and therapeutic challenges of distally impacted airway foreign bodies and performs safe and timely surgical procedures when standard bronchoscopic techniques are ineffective.