Accidentally swallowed a tooth , from your denture?You must read this post.A few days back I wrote about objects or foreign bodies which children accidentally swallow.
3 Foreign bodies which adults can have problem with are:
- Fishbone
- Chicken or offer animal meat bone
- Dentures
The first one is the least scary .
The other two can be life threatening.
For fish bone and various meat bones :How does it happen ?
It can happen when you are eating unmindfully watching television
It can happen when you are eating in a hurry.
It can also happen if you swallow accidentally
Common in alcoholics who eat after binge drinking.
Dentures:When are they swallowed
- If it’s loose and Ill fitting.
- Specially single tooth.
- If you forget to take them out at bedtime.
What to do?
Fish bone if visible, lots of people remove it at home.Foreign body throat is most common with fish bone and causes least problems.
But chicken and other animal meat bone is a difficult situation. Denture too can be life threatening
Visit your nearest hospital with ENT emergency.
What will happen once you visit the hospital ?
A doctor will listen to what happened .Check your oral cavity and oropharynx to see whether the object is visible.
If it’s visible ,you are in luck.
It can be removed under local anaesthesia quickly.
If not seen on examination you will be asked to do radiological tests like X-ray Soft tissue Neck AP/Lateral
Computed Tomography of neck.
Once the object is visualised .
You will be given intravenous medicines ,saline ,pain killers and asked to take nothing orally.
After about 8 hours of empty stomach you will be taken to the operation theatre with your consent .
At the Operation theatre ,a procedure known as Oesophagoscopy is carried out after making you unconscious with the help of anaesthesia .Oesophascopy is the procedure to remove oesoophageal foreign body.
During this procedure a tube with light source will be introduced inside your food pipe to look for the object stuck there.
Once seen it’s taken out with a forcep. The food pipe is also checked for any trauma due to the object.
If it’s a denture and it has a wire stuck in the food pipe .Then it will need to be cut and removed in parts .This avoids perforation or tearing of the food pipe which is a life threatening condition.
Is there a risk during this procedure
Yes all operative procedure have risk involving, the surgery and the anaesthesia.
During Oesophagoscopy since the object is stuck in the food pipe ,a risk of tear is always there.
Fortunately the food pipe has multiple coats and mucosal tears if minor can be treated without complications.
But if the tear is deep there are chances of long-term narrowing of esophagus and life risk too.
What happens if the object is removed with no tear?
You get better .After a postoperative neck and chest X-ray and 24 to 48 hours of antibiotics (depending on condition ), you will be discharged.
What happens if there’s a tear?
Let’s pray that doesn’t happen.But in the event it happens ,your doctor will ask you to avoid any oral.intake of food or water .
Antibiotics and intravenous fluid continues till it heals .
In some cases surgery may be needed to repair a tear.
What happens if the object is not removed?
If the object is in the food pipe proper and not stuck in the wall there’s some chance of it gradually progressing into the lower part of your gut.
Wherever it is it will need to be removed. Because intestinal perforation due to obstruction can endanger your life.
If it’s stuck in the throat and not removed urgently
For fish bone you will have an episode of pharyngitis like symptoms which should heal with the use of antibiotics.
In the worst case scenario it can irritate you for some time.
Al meat bone needs to be removed
Otherwise it can cause acute retropharyngeal,parapharyngeal abscess and various other complications
Do what’s the best thing to do ?
Eat mindfully.
Not only you enjoy your food more ,you also avoid these freak accidents.
This is my UBC day 25 .Writing daily since October .
Disclaimer :All information provided is for educational purpose Any medical decision should be taken after consultation with your own physician.
This is really scary. Indeed eating should be done in proper way.
Oh my God, this is really scary. When you don’t eat properly these problems can occur. I didn’t know dentures are to be used so cautiously.
Fish bones are commonly eaten especially if they r from a bony and tiny fish but as stated I’ve seen people being a ke to take them off… Yes I can. Imagine chicken bones.. It’s advisable to give children and. Toddlers meat off the bone
Know this all too well from the anaesthesia side Important info for the general public
I am super cautious while feeding my little one fish and chicken but yes as an adult we often tend to ignore these things. This article is really helpful in case of emergency thanks for sharing
This is a really great read. We should all know these things and yet if choose to ignore them from time to time.
Thank you
This is a good read. I had no clue that dentures are so dangerous. I was frightened.
They are very dangerous.
I have faced problems with fish bones many times. I eat very fast. Now, I do n’t eat fish ! Thanks for sharing all the details. very useful.
http://www.learn2livefully.com
Thank you
Such a great post. Thank you for sharing.
I think being cautious when eating and teaching your child or children to do the same is the best thing. I am quite a slow eater while my hubby is very fast. I would hate to be in a situation of gobbling down a foreign object. Saving this post. I love how your posts are always so helpful for adults and kids and can be applied to everyday life.
Thanks Sheri.Glad you found this useful.
Wow! This is a wake up call! I honestly never thought about this topic before but this information is great to know! I mean it is just one of those things that DOES happen and when it does this is good to have on hand! Thank you!
You have put it perfectly!
These are really scary situations!! Luckily i have never been in or seen a situation like this and i hope i never have to!!
God bless you.I hope not too!
You reminded me of the day when my cousin got a fish bone stuck in her throat. It was very difficult to get it out and we had no choice but remove by operation. Nice post. Thanks for joining The Bloggers Pit Stop
Thanks Menaka
These are some scary situations. Thank God! I never swallowed any foreign objects and I’ll be more careful while eating from now onwards!
Careful is important
There were times when I swallowed fish bone but managed to get that out quick enough. I can’t even stand to think of the other two situations. I’ve heard (not sure) that there is this medicine which helps to melt down bones that get stuck in throat? Do you have any idea?
Fish bone degrades with salivary action .But not the other types .Medicines which claim to degrade it unfortunately mat be hoax.
Very scary! Things I never thought about before.
Yes its s ary.
Yes its scary.
These are some really scary situations and timely help is definitely must. I’ve had fish bones stuck once while gobbling some fish sandwiches and it was the worst experience.
Oh no.Hope you were okay after it was removed
Wowzer. That’s alot. It really makes you want to slow down and eat slowly.
Yes true.
Omg this would be so scary!!! DENTURES!!! I would probably have a heart attack if I accidentally swallowed that.. although I do have experience having swallowed a small fish bone when I was little and it got stuck in my throat and it was the most painful experience ever.
Crissy
http://www.whimsicalfawn.com
Thanks
I’ve definitely had a couple of fish bones caught in my throat. I would hate for it to happen to my daughter. But I cannot imagine choking on dentures – that is absolutely terrifying!
Ut us indeed terrifying
Thank God I haven’t had either of these experiences. However, I have had a mosquito fly into my ear and it had to be extracted at urgent care! Crazy!
That must have been scary.
This is really serious. My son almost choked when he was younger and all I could think to do was stick my finger down his throat and remove the food. Patting his back wasn’t helping.
That must be scary .What happened
That must be scary .What happened ?
This is scary. My family and I love fish and chicken, but after seeing all this and stuff on the television, I have been careful on what to buy or where I get it. It even cross my mind to just start raising my own chicken.
Being careful is the best way
This looks scary! Thankfully, I’m a vegan and do not have dentures.
Thanks
Since me giving up fish and chicken probably won’t happen I just need to be careful. I need to slow down eating as you should do anyways and make every bite meaningful.
Yes eating mindfully is enough to avoid these problems.
Oh yikes, this would be scary. I’m lucky and this hasn’t happened to me or my kids. I hope it never does!
Yes definitely scary.