title: 14 year follow-up for a severe electrical burn to mouth and lip: case report.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Electrical burns range from 4 to 7% of the total burn accidents and many of them affect primarily children biting on a live wire. Great confusion exists in the literature about the proper management of electrical burns to the mouth in the acute and late phases.
  
  
  METHODS
  14 year results are shown in a severe electrical burn sustained in a 1 year 2 months old girl, involving 90% of the lips and commissures, tongue, alveolar ridges and teeth (primary central incisors and permanent dental germs). Two weeks after she was out of danger, an active splint expansion device was built and used for 8 months to prevent secondary microstomia. Later a new active splint device was used for a year after lip plastic surgery. At age 13, orthopedics and orthodontics were accomplished with a lip tattoo completed at age 15.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  No matter how good the final esthetic and occlusal results are, prevention is always the best option.
authors.affiliation: Universidad Tecnológica de México. rvel@data.net.mx
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Valencia
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Espinosa
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saadia
authors.forename: Evaristo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Valencia
mesh_terms: D000539:Alveolar Process / Q000294:innervation; D002058:Burns, Electric / Q000628:therapy*; D016379:Denture, Partial, Fixed, Resin-Bonded; D004867:Equipment Design; D005115:Extraoral Traction Appliances; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007180:Incisor / Q000293:injuries; D007223:Infant; D008046:Lip / Q000293:injuries*; D008865:Microstomia / Q000517:prevention & control; D009055:Mouth / Q000293:injuries*; D010155:Palatal Expansion Technique; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000379:methods; D013165:Splints; D015626:Tissue Expansion / Q000295:instrumentation; D014059:Tongue / Q000293:injuries; D014083:Tooth Germ / Q000293:injuries; D014087:Tooth Movement Techniques; D014094:Tooth, Deciduous / Q000293:injuries