Key Points
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Highlights an unusual complication of hepatitis B vaccine and discusses its causes.
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This is imperative to the differential diagnosis of Bell's palsy, a common presentation in oral surgery departments.
Abstract
Bell's palsy is the sudden onset of unilateral transient paralysis of facial muscles resulting from dysfunction of the seventh cranial nerve. Presented here is a 26-year-old female patient with right lower motor neurone facial palsy following hepatitis B vaccination. Readers' attention is drawn to an uncommon cause of Bell's palsy, as a possible rare complication of hepatitis B vaccination, and steps taken to manage such a presentation.
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Paul, R., Stassen, L. Transient facial nerve paralysis (Bell's palsy) following administration of hepatitis B recombinant vaccine: a case report. Br Dent J 216, 69–71 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2014.1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2014.1
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