Sometimes in the process of dental treatment, a complication such as filling material in the maxillary sinus can develop. When installing a seal, its fragment may fall into this cavity. A similar complication arises rather rarely, but each person needs to understand all his seriousness and danger.
Severity of complications
So, what is the potential for filling material in the maxillary sinus?
The maxillary sinuses are located above the upper jaw, they are necessary for warming the air entering through the nose, as well as for cleaning it from particles of debris and dust. If the patient’s bone tissue is of insufficient thickness, then during the treatment of his teeth, filling material can penetrate these sinuses through damaged tissue structures.
The possibility of removing filling material from the maxillary sinus after some time is completely excluded, in addition, there is no possibility of self-treatment of the problem. Therapy involves penetration into the maxillary sinuses, followed by extraction of a fragment located there.
If the filling material is in the maxillary sinus, it is technically impossible to perform such a procedure on your own, often foreign pieces get stuck at the borders of the teeth and gums. Only a doctor can fix such a problem.
In this regard, timely detection, diagnosis and quality therapy are important. Such an operation is not particularly difficult for a qualified doctor. The patient, depending on the medical institution, may be discharged from the hospital on the same or the next day. An operation is performed under local anesthesia.
In what cases is filling material found in the maxillary sinus?
Causes of Complications
Often, patients cannot understand how the filling material used for dental treatment can enter the paranasal sinuses from the gums.
Medicine knows cases of foreign objects getting into the maxillary sinuses under the following conditions:
- Installation of a seal.
- Prosthetics.
In some patients, the walls separating the gum from the sinus are quite thin, which is why there is a likelihood of damage and penetration of pieces of filling material into the tissue. Quite often, this complication occurs during the dental treatment process.
Sometimes in the place of tooth treatment the bone is very thin, that is, the dental roots are located quite close to the maxillary sinuses.
If the amount of bone tissue in the place of tooth treatment is not enough, then dentists in some cases produce artificial tissue growth. This is required to implement reliable tooth therapy. In a similar situation, wall damage and subsequent penetration of pieces of filling materials into the paranasal sinuses often occur.
The development of suppuration
Dental substance, penetrating into the layers of the gums, often provokes the development of the process of suppuration, a person experiences strong pain when chewing food, discomfort in contact with the damaged area.
Situations when a foreign body does not provoke any reaction on the part of the body is a rather rare phenomenon, as a result, after some time, the inflammatory process still develops.
How does filling material in the maxillary sinus manifest itself?
Clinical picture
In their anatomical structure, the paranasal sinuses are very similar to the roots of the upper teeth.
Most often, maxillary sinus damage occurs in the area where the roots of the second premolar, the first or second premolar are located.
Among the risk factors for complications, experts distinguish:
- Caries, provoking inflammation of the tooth roots.
- Incorrect tooth extraction, which entailed the development of a purulent process in the upper jaw.
- Installation of dentures.
- Extension of intra-gingival bone materials during dental treatment.
- Traumatic damage to teeth.
- The appearance and purulent development of cysts of the upper jaw.
- Osteomyelitis.
- Acute periodontal inflammatory processes of the paranasal sinuses above the upper teeth.
If it enters the paranasal sinuses of a foreign body, tissue irritation occurs. If a hole is formed, bacteria from the oral cavity can also enter the sinuses through it, provoking the formation of a purulent discharge.
Symptoms of filling material in the maxillary sinus
A person may suggest the presence of a foreign body in the maxillary sinuses in several cases.
It is necessary to make light tapping movements on the face - on the facial bone in the eyes and nose. If such a manipulation is accompanied by soreness, then we can talk about the presence of one of the signs of pathology.
A severe and aching headache can occur for a variety of reasons, however, if such a manifestation is combined with other signs, then we can assume the penetration of a foreign substance into the paranasal sinuses.
The next alarm is the presence of persistent rhinitis. Seasonal catarrhal rhinitis is quite amenable to therapy, but a persistent runny nose in combination with other symptoms may indicate the development of a complication.
In addition, the patient may complain of specific aching pains that occur in the upper jaw, which tends to intensify during chewing.
Temperature rise
The development of complications may be accompanied by fever, profuse and painful discharge from the nasal cavity, which have a purulent character and a specific smell.
If the patient has several of these symptoms, he should contact a medical institution to undergo a comprehensive examination. Such an approach eliminates minor complications and plans a therapeutic technique.
If a foreign object is in the paranasal sinuses for a long period and does not cause any symptoms, the patient’s health threat remains. Such catalysts as trauma, vitamin deficiency, hypothermia, stressful situations can provoke the development of the inflammatory process.
Features of the diagnosis of complications
The most effective way to determine the correct diagnosis is a computed tomography procedure, but other, more traditional diagnostic methods can be used:
- Puncture of the paranasal sinus.
- MRI
- X-ray examination.
- The use of rhinotherapy to study the paranasal sinus.
- Interrogation of the patient.
An experienced and qualified specialist will always suggest a similar complication and refer the patient to computed tomography to confirm the problem.
Complication therapy
Therapy of complications involves the implementation of a number of regulated actions in order to eliminate the pathological condition:
- A foreign object must be removed. This is the main goal of therapy.
- Such a lesion causes a regular development of inflammatory processes. They are provoked not only by dental material that has penetrated into an area unusual for it, but also by the microflora of the oral cavity or the purulent discharge from the inflammatory process in the gingival tissues that penetrates through the opening. Purulent foci should also be eliminated.
- The patient needs to undergo therapy for the paranasal sinuses and oral cavity, eliminating the causes of the pathology.
What surgery for filling material in the maxillary sinus is prescribed?
The only way to remove a foreign object from your sinuses is through surgery. In its process, penetration into the sinus through the hole and the direct removal of the shard occurs. How to remove filling material from the maxillary sinus?
Two methods of surgical intervention
In total, there are two methods of surgical intervention: endoscopic and laparoscopic.
Laparoscopy is a more traditional technique. In this case, the surgeon makes an incision between the gum and the upper lip. By using this opening, the filling material is removed. Removal of filling material from the maxillary sinus by endoscopy involves puncture of the paranasal sinuses in the place where the thinnest bone is. Through this puncture, with the help of a special tool, a foreign particle is captured and brought out.
An operation is performed to extract a foreign object from the paranasal sinus using local anesthetics, the average duration of manipulation is half an hour. The most common is the endoscopic method. Laparoscopy is used, as a rule, in cases when the patient shows any contraindications to endoscopy.
In the case when the complication provokes the formation of granulomas, the patient is not only removed from the foreign body, but also the mucous membranes lining the paranasal sinuses are scraped out.
Then, a person is shown drug therapy of the inflammation process. For this purpose, antibiotic or immunostimulating drugs, some other drugs can be used. In addition, damaged paranasal sinuses should be washed with antiseptics or antibacterial solutions. In addition, the patient is recommended to take vitamin complexes.
Filling material in the maxillary sinus. Effects
The presence of a foreign object in the paranasal cavities is fraught with the development of some complications, among which:
- Granulomas.
- Capsulation of a dental substance in the form of a benign neoplasm or cyst.
- Fungal or bacterial sinusitis.
It is also possible the development of secondary symptoms:
- Cocci can spread from the inflammatory focus to other parts of the human body. One result of this situation is myocarditis.
- Hypertrophy of the mucous membranes, accompanied by a violation of nasal breathing.
- A variety of inflammatory disorders of a cold.
- Meningitis.
Reviews about this pathology
Reviews about the removal of filling material from the maxillary sinus are quite infrequent due to the rarity of the complication itself. Patients who have encountered a similar situation report that the process of removing a foreign body greatly scared them, but the operation was successful and allowed to get rid of pain, inflammation and other manifestations of the problem.