Marginal periodontitis with alveolar bone loss in lower deciduous incisor due to drinking straw-like plastic tube: Three case reports

We present three cases of marginal periodontitis with alveolar bone loss due to the presence of a drinking straw-like plastic tube in the periodontal pocket of a lower deciduous incisor. The plastic tube was removed using diamond tweezers in all cases. The results suggest that the symptoms of periodontitis disappear quickly after removal of the plastic tube in such cases and that the affected tooth is normally replaced with the succedaneous tooth. However, while recovering to some extent, the alveolar bone supporting the affected tooth is unlikely to return to normal. This indicates the importance of raising awareness of this problem among dentists and encouraging manufacturers to improve the design and color of such tubes if this type of accident is to be avoided.