Fractured Elevator Tip After Wisdom Teeth Removal

After or during having wisdom teeth surgery complications are a possibility. One of these complications listed on http://www.teethremoval.com/complications.html is displacement of a foreign body such as a dental instrument. Usually this is seen with a dental needle that breaks off but can also be seen with the dental drill bit or the blade of an elevator. A case is described in the article titled “A unique post-operative complication” written by Modgill and Mani appearing in Oral Surgery in 2016 (vol. 9, pp. 15-18) which describes a fractured elevator tip during removal of an upper wisdom tooth. In the article the authors say they are aware of only two prior cases of fracture of an instrument during teeth removal and that such retained fractured instrument fragments can cause pain or lead to an infection. In the article they describe the case … Read more