The incidental finding of a retained gunshot pellet.

An 80-year-old woman presented to the restorative department at the Charles Clifford Dental Hospital in Sheffield for a routine review of her dental health with no reported trauma, pain or complications relating to the oral environment. A routine periapical radiograph showed the presence of a foreign object in the right maxillary second premolar region. An unusual case is reported of a retained gunshot pellet lying in the upper buccal mucosa for 70 years without the patient experiencing any pathological signs or symptoms.