Dental treatment of a 2-year-old victim of a suicide bomb attack.

The purpose of this report was to describe the diagnosis and dental treatment of a 2-year-old girl that was involved in a suicide bomb attack. A 14-months-old infant was severely injured when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device inside a crowded bus. Her injury was 'multi-system', mainly burns and fragments in her face, eyes and other parts of the body. Fifteen months later, she was brought to the Department of Pediatric Dentistry of the Hadassah School of Dental Medicine and the clinical and radiographic examination showed that she was caries free but there were dental trauma injuries to many teeth. Due to her non-cooperative behavior and the extent of treatment the girl was scheduled for a one appointment treatment under deep sedation. Three days later, she was brought to the Emergency Room of the Department of Pediatric Dentistry complaining of pain on the lower left side of the mouth and a swollen vestibule and face could clinically be observed. The lower left first molar that apparently revealed only an enamel fracture and cracks at the time of treatment, actually revealed a necrotic pulp as a result of the blast. As this girl was caries free, and with no history of dental trauma due to any accident, the only explanation for the response of the pulp was the impact of the blast. In conclusion, the reaction of the dental pulp to the blast of an explosion is different than the reaction to other kind of insult and this should be taken in consideration when treating children after this kind of dental trauma.