Indian Teen Is The Only Known Patient With Tooth Growing Inside His Eye Socket

A highly unusual case was reported in India when doctors discovered a tooth growing inside a human eye socket, the New York Post reported. A 16-year-old boy in India stunned medical professionals after seeking help for a strange, painless swelling above his left eye. According to the media outlet, it was a mild lump, but soon two hard, white points began pushing through the skin right between his eyelid and eyebrow. The doctors then ran tests and carried out a computed tomography (CT) scan to confirm the rare case of a fully formed tooth growing inside the upper portion of his eye socket, an area doctors refer to medically as the superior orbit. Details of the case study were published in the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

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What is an Ectopic Tooth?

This rare phenomenon is called an 'ectopic tooth', a tooth that develops or erupts in the wrong place, instead of the mouth. According to case study co-author Dr Meghana Tanwar, this reported case was "the first and only ectopic tooth reported in the superior orbit".

According to medical experts, this marks the first known time in history that an ectopic tooth has ever been found in this specific location.

While finding a stray tooth in unusual spots, like the roof of the mouth or deep inside the nasal cavity, is rare, it does occasionally happen.

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Teeth have sometimes been found growing in the nasal passages due to developmental issues or past trauma. But teeth inside an eye socket are unprecedented.

In this case, researchers are still trying to understand why this specific case occurred, as doctors found no history of facial injuries or genetic disorders.

His scans showed no other extra teeth anywhere else in his skull; the single tooth had simply formed in the wrong place by pure chance.

To remove it safely, the doctors successfully performed a procedure, resolving the swelling and preventing any long-term complications.

"This was a first not just for us but the world over," Tanwar said while reflecting on the case. "We were very surprised by it."