Sir, a 92-year-old male patient attended as an emergency stating that his bridge and a tooth had fallen out that morning whilst eating breakfast. He was in no pain and reported that he was medically fit and well. Examination revealed a 23-year-old avulsed three unit fixed-fixed bridge retained from a maxillary left canine and metal post in the left central. The patient also presented a tooth-like item measuring approximately 15 mm by 8 mm by 6 mm with signs of apex, root groove and potential root fracture all being noted. Intra-oral clinical examination revealed abutments without signs of significant damage but no sign of the loss of any tooth and absolutely no signs of soft tissue abnormality. The reason for the tooth-like structure remained a mystery and manipulation of the apical crack revealed a potential root canal space and further speculation that a tooth root had indeed been lost. Without evidence of any tooth avulsion the differential diagnosis of the foreign body was nothing more than conjectural and mysterious; odontome, salivary calculus? Only further and detailed questioning as to the contents of the patient's breakfast elucidated that he had indeed been eating a bran based product supplemented with dried fruit...the mystery was solved...dried banana! The perils of a healthy breakfast led to much merriment for all and a lesson learned on the need for a detailed diet analysis on occasion.

1. By email