Management of a gunshot wound to the face resulting in a mandibular body fracture with burying of a bicuspid crown into the tongue.

Gunshot wounds to the maxillofacial region are unpredictable and run the gamut from minor injuries to severe mutilating and life threatening injuries. This patient although unfortunate to have been the victim of mistaken identify resulting in the gunshot wound, was fortunate that the bullet hit his bicuspid, which probably served to deflect its path away from vital structures, thus saving his life. This accounts for the buried bicuspid crown found in the midline of the body of the tongue.