title: Extraction of dental crowns from the airway: a multidisciplinary approach.
abstract: We describe two cases of airway foreign bodies (FB) consisting of a dental crown. The shape and composition of dental crowns complicate their extraction from the tracheobronchial tree, sometimes necessitating thoracotomy. We describe the use of a multidisciplinary approach involving rigid and flexible bronchoscopy in concert with the use of wire snares under fluoroscopic guidance for extraction of these challenging FB. These cases illustrate that this multidisciplinary approach can allow successful extraction of the difficult FB from much of the tracheobronchial tree and the avoidance of thoracotomy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon 97239, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.forename: Mark S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Chesnutt
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Barton
authors.forename: James I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Cohen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001980:Bronchi; D020680:Bronchoscopes; D003442:Crowns / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005336:Fiber Optic Technology / Q000295:instrumentation; D005471:Fluoroscopy; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015641:Radiography, Interventional