Hospital Dentistry: The Swiss-Army Knife of Dental Medicine.

Hospital Dentistry is an inclusive synergism of the recognized dental specialties in an emergency/hospital atmosphere. This perspective composition serves to display the breadth of Hospital Dentistry from an observational and creative viewpoint while elucidating the role of the Hospital Dentist in the dynamic large university hospital setting. It calls for increased awareness of the field of Hospital Dentistry and the potential for its specialized role in the future of dental medicine.

"Where are my teeth?" A case of unnoticed ingestion of a dislodged fixed partial denture.

What are the dangers of swallowing foreign bodies of dental origin? How do we recognize when a patient has actually swallowed a dental appliance? How far should we pursue the retrieval of the appliance? We report a case of a patient with unnoticed ingestion of a dislodged fixed partial denture while undergoing general anesthesia and review the literature on dangers of swallowing foreign bodies of dental origin. Anesthesiologists should understand the dangers and recognize this complication when it happens, so that appropriate treatment can be pursued if necessary.