Doctors Remove Tooth Stuck In 6-Year-Old’s Lung After Child Accidentally Swallows It

The doctors at a hospital in India have successfully removed a tooth from the right lung of a 6-year-old child.

The boy had accidentally swallowed his tooth, which then got stuck in his lung, local media reports said. According to the doctors, the boy – who has not been identified – wasn’t able to breathe, following which his parents rushed him to Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbai, located in the western state of Maharashtra.

"The patient had arrived in an emergency room and was facing difficulties in breathing. Following this, they performed radiology which confirmed the presence of the tooth on the right side of the bronchus. He was immediately taken to the operation theater wherein the doctors scheduled for rigid bronchoscopy," ENT consultant Dr Sangamlal Pal of Wockhardt Hospital said, according to Free Press Journal.

The team of doctors who operated on the boy included Pal and anesthesiologist Dr Sumeet Warang, Deccan Herald reported.

It remains unclear when the surgery took place.

"It is a procedure performed to remove the foreign body aspiration from bronchus. The rigid bronchoscope - consisting of optical forceps and a camera showed the tooth in the right bronchus. The tooth was removed after gaining access to the patient’s airway under general anesthesia. The airway and breathing improved immediately after the procedure. Post-operation, the patient was shifted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU),” the doctor said.

The child's father spoke to local media, saying he and his wife "were appalled to see our baby struggling to breathe. He was just restless and could not speak or eat after accidentally aspirating the loose tooth. He can breathe freely and has got a fresh lease of life after successful treatment at Wockhardt Hospital, Mira Road."

In March, a woman underwent a surgery after her toothbrush got stuck inside her mouth. The 34-year-old, identified only as Revathi from the southern state of Tamil Nadu, got a toothbrush stuck inside her mouth after she accidentally slipped on the floor while brushing her teeth. Her family rushed her to the hospital, where doctors found that the toothbrush had stuck in the dental cavities.