Broken needle – two cases report

Abstract

The dental treatment it is not risk free, accidents and complications may be related to several kinds of procedures done by the dentist. Among the specialties the oral and maxillofacial surgery is the one by which the professional is more exposed to find complications. The dental needle conducts the anesthetic solution from the bottle to the surrounding tissue, making a temporary interruption at the transmission of pain impulses. At the first decades of the twentieth century, were used for local anesthesia, rigid and non disposable needle, therefore the incidence of needle fracture were very high during anesthetic block, however with the technological evolution disposable needle made with flexible metal alloy were developed allowing that this kind of complication become rare nowadays, the reasons for this accident vary, may be associated to failures during the industrial fabrication of the needle, to a sudden movement of the patient during the anesthetic puncture, due to professional mistakes, like the insertion of the hole needle into the target tissue, bending of the needle, or the excessive reuse of the needle that cause stress to the metal. This article has the aim of presenting a case of anesthetic needle fracture treated at the service of oral and maxillofacial surgery of the San Antony Hospital from the social works Irmã Dulce.