J Dent Oral Biol | Volume 2, Issue 14 | Case Report | Open Access
Sanjeev Verma*, Nameksh Raj Bhupali, SP Singh and Deepak K Gupta
Department of Orthodontics & Dentofacial Orthopaedics, Oral Health Sciences Center (OHSC), Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India
*Correspondance to: Sanjeev Verma
Fulltext PDFIntroduction: Subcutaneous emphysema refers trapped air in tissues beneath the skin that usually occurs on the chest, neck and face. Subcutaneous emphysema has a characteristic crackling feel to touch. Various dental procedures which can lead to this condition include use of high-speed, airdriven hand piece or air-water syringe, surgical tooth extraction. But emphysema due to separator placement in orthodontics has not been earlier reported to the best of our knowledge and is very rare.
Clinical
Presentation: This article presents unusual sequelae of orthodontic separator placement resulting in subcutaneous emphysema. Orthodontic separators were placed between maxillary second premolars and first molars and between first molars and second molars bilaterally in a 15-year-old boy to be taken for comprehensive orthodontic treatment. He reported with a swelling on the right side of the face on the next day which extended from the cheek to the temporal region.
\Management: The patient was treated with a conservative approach and was instructed not to blow. The total swelling was resolved in a week spontaneously without intervention.
Conclusion: Since orthodontic separator may lead to facial emphysema patients should be instructed not to blow air in mouth after separator placement.
Subcutaneous emphysema; Orthodontics separator; Management
Verma S, Bhupali NR, Singh SP, Gupta DK. Subcutaneous Emphysema as Unusual Sequelae of Orthodontic Separator Placement: A Case Report. J Dent Oral Biol. 2017; 2(14): 1086.