Displacement of tooth or root in to the tissues is a rare but potentially serious complication.The tooth or part of it may be lost under a mucoperiosteal flap,in to the lingual pouch through the thin lingual cortex of bone in the lower third molar region or in to the infratemporal fossa around the back of the maxillary tuberosity from the upper third molar region.Ineffectual efforts at applying forceps to a tooth or elevating a root with inadequate access may cause such displacements but occasionally this mishap occurs even with a sound technique.Any root or part of a tooth that is unaccounted for during extraction should be pursued by taking a further radiograph of the socket and the surrounding area.The patient should then be referred for further investigation and management by an oral surgeon.
If a tooth or root is lost from view during the course of an extraction,it may be in one of the following sites:
1.Swallowed in to the stomach or inhaled in to the lung.If either of these is suspected the patient should be sent to hospital for abdominal and chest radiographs.
2.Pushed in to the antrum.
3.Displaced in to a soft tissue space.
4.Collected inadvertently by the suction apparatus.
5.Still in the socket.