The Daily Observer London Desk: Reporter- John Furner
A Wisconsin man narrowly escaped death after swallowing his silver-plated dentures.
The 22-year-old had been wearing the silver row of ‘grillz’ when he had an epileptic seizure and accidentally swallowed them down the wrong pipe.
Instead of passing through the esophagus and into the digestive system, it became lodged in the passage to his lung.
An unnamed 22-year-old man from Wisconsin swallowed a chunk of his silver-plated dentures after he had an epileptic seizure. The accessary had to be removed with a bronchoscopy
The patient was wearing a set of silver-plated dentures when he suffered a seizure
A chunk of the dentures was lodged in the patient’s right stem bronchus, an airway to the lungs. This caused coughing and heavy wheezing
The man sought medical help after experiencing coughing and heavy wheezing.
X-ray scans revealed that a 4cm chunk of his dentures had become wedged in the right main stem bronchus, an airway to his lung.
Doctors rushed him for a bronchoscopy in a bid to remove the object. This procedures involves feeding a thin, lightened tube called a bronchoscope down the airway to dislodge the accessary.
The patient was discharged after the procedure and a course of steroids.
This isn’t the first time dental accessories have gotten stuck in someone’s body.
A 2019 case study, for example, detailed a 72-year-old British man who swallowed his dentures after minor abdominal surgery.
Earlier that year, a 50-year-old man had a similar incident during sedation.
Additionally, in 2015, a 55-year-old Indian man realized he had swallowed part of his false teeth after having a seizure while sleeping. The edge of the dentures was lodged into the wall of his esophagus.
If someone is having a seizure, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend easing them to the floor, turning them on to one side to help them breathe, and clearing the person of anything hard or sharp. Don’t try to hold them down or put anything in their mouth.
Seizures can affect different parts of the brain and result in different symptoms. Many people lose consciousness, shake, or have body stiffening. There is also the risk of throwing your head back and biting your tongue.
Epilepsy affects 3.4 million people in the US and 50 million worldwide, according to the Epilepsy Foundation.
