Eating as a hazard to health: preventing, treating dental injuries caused by foreign objects in food.

The Food and Drug Administration maintains a passive surveillance system for reporting and follow-up of complaints related to food items. The most commonly reported complaint is the discovery of foreign objects in food. The most common injuries are abrasions to the throat and buccal mucosa. Although dentists are qualified to treat oral injury resulting from foreign object ingestion, more physicians than dental professionals treat soft tissue trauma.