Ingestion and aspiration of foreign bodies.

Foreign bodies may be swallowed as well as aspirated, but patients and their relatives may not understand the distinction. Fortunately, swallowing occurs more often than aspiration. Dental prostheses present specific problems in this regard. Their configuration impedes easy gliding through the esophagus and makes their extraction difficult. Swallowing of foreign bodies in elder patients is often explained by a decrease in psychological or neurological function, which undoubtedly may occur. The loss of tactile sense of the hard and soft palate as a result of complete denture use is another reason for frequent occurrence of this problem in elder patients.