Tooth Removed From Teen’s Skull Days After He Was ‘Bitten’ During Football Match

Doctors in Portugal recently removed a tooth from a 14-year-old boy’s skull, days after he was bitten in the head by a fellow player during a football.

According to a report published in BMJ Case Reports on Friday, the unidentified 14-year-old boy was injured during a football match after he collided with another player. The doctors examined the boy’s head to find a five-centimeter (1.96 inches) laceration on the right side of his skull. Initially, the wound was stitched and the boy was discharged as the doctors did not find any abnormalities.

However, five days later, the boy complained of continuous sharp pain as well as dizziness and was taken to the hospital again. Doctors cleaned the wound and redressed and the boy was prescribed antibiotics for fever. But the relief was temporary as the medicines' effects wore out in 24 hours.

After some days, the teen again complained of incessant pain and pus on the wound which led him to the emergency room once again. The doctors reported an "inflamed abscess" and decided to admit the boy to the hospital to keep him under constant pediatric care along with intravenous antibiotics.

The teen’s situation was constant for four more days as the doctors tried to analyze and conclude the cause of the inflammation and constant pain. They speculated it to be a bone fracture or osteomyelitis (bone infection) and had the injury scanned, which revealed a foreign object that appeared to be a metal or calcium compound lodged into the skull of the boy. Further study by the doctors proved that the foreign object was, in fact, a tooth.

The tooth was successfully removed from the teenager’s skull the following day and he was eventually discharged after two days.