Background: Special care must be taken during surgical procedures in children, especially primary tooth extractions. However, despite dentist's effort to perform tooth removal carefully, some accidents may be unavoidable when defective instruments are unknowingly used.
Case report: This article presents a case of a pediatric dental elevator fracture during a primary mandibular right second molar extraction.
Conclusion: Although uncommon, instruments breakage may occur during dental and surgical procedures. Therefore, dentists should always check the surgical instrument for signs of breakage and be prepared to solve a possible emergency.