There is 1 message totalling 34 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

1. Protocols for MIA

Dear ESCO members, A dentist that works for me told me the patient had swallowed a mandibular 7s bracket before she could get the tweezers there to catch it. No cough, she just swallowed. I certainly have patients that come in with brackets and ligs missing in action (mia). I also have the odd bit of wire that the safety end cutters don't hold onto that also dissapears. At uni I had a patient swallow an RME key. The protocol was to request a chest Xray and then to follow up to check it had 'passed through'. A couple of years ago our medical defense insurer presented a case where a burr was inhaled. I know we have a diligent group out there. What do you do when a patient comes in without a lig? or without a bracket? or when a small piece of wire dissapears?

Cheers,
Mark Cordato
markc@ix.net.au
Bathurst Australia