The Incidental Finding of a Retained Gunshot Pellet

From Volume 36, Issue 1, January 2009 | Pages 28-30

Authors

Katharine Wenham

4th Year BDS Dental Student, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK

Articles by Katharine Wenham

Sally Craig

BDS, FHEA

Honorary Clinical Teacher in Restorative Dentistry, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK

Articles by Sally Craig

Effrosyni Tsitrou

DDS, MMedSci, PhD

Clinical Teacher in Restorative Dentistry, Department of Adult Dental Care, School of Clinical Dentistry, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK

Articles by Effrosyni Tsitrou

Abstract

An 80-year-old woman presented to the restorative department at the Charles Clifford Dental Hospital in Sheffield for a routine review of her dental health with no reported trauma, pain or complications relating to the oral environment. A routine periapical radiograph showed the presence of a foreign object in the right maxillary second premolar region. An unusual case is reported of a retained gunshot pellet lying in the upper buccal mucosa for 70 years without the patient experiencing any pathological signs or symptoms.

Article