Man Who Had Trouble Breathing Discovers That a Tooth Was Growing Inside His Nose!

Upon a thorough examination, doctors found 'a hard, non-tender, white mass', which they later determined was an ectopic tooth.

Viral News: A man who had been suffering from breathing problems for several years was left stunned after he discovered the bizarre reason behind it. According to a report published by Mount Sinai Health System, a 38-year-old unnamed man was having trouble breathing through his right nostril for years. When he visited a clinic in Mount Sinai, New York for his condition, he was initially told that he had a deviated septum and calcified septal spurs. However, after performing a rhinoscopy, doctors discovered that a tooth was growing inside his nostril. Yes, you read it right!

Upon a thorough examination, doctors found ‘a hard, non-tender, white mass’, which they later determined was an ectopic tooth. Ectopic teeth are teeth that develop in the wrong position. According to Medical Xpress, ectopic teeth are extremely rare, occurring in just about 0.1% of the population.

Sagar Khanna and Michael Turner in The New England Journal of Medicine explained, “Physical examination of the nose showed a septal deviation, calcified septal spurs, and a 2-cm perforation in the posterior septum. On rhinoscopy, a hard, nontender, white mass was observed in the floor of the right nostril. Computed tomography of the paranasal sinuses showed a well-defined, radiodense mass consistent with an inverted ectopic tooth in the nasal cavity, which was thought to explain the obstructive symptoms and septal perforation.”

The tooth was later removed from the man’s nose during oral and otolaryngologic surgery and measured 14 millimetres in length.

New England Journal of Medicine

“The tooth was removed during oral and otolaryngologic surgery by means of an intranasal approach and measured 14 mm in length. There were no postoperative complications. At follow-up three months after surgery, the patient’s symptoms of nasal obstruction had resolved, ” the journal further explained.

The National Health Service (NHS) Queen Victoria Hospital in Grinstead, England also wrote an information sheet about ectopic teeth which read: “Sometimes one or more teeth develop in the wrong position, end up getting stuck and remain buried in the jawbone under the gum. The most common ectopic teeth are the canine teeth in the upper jaw. The main risk of this is that the tooth can bump into the roots of other adult teeth and cause damage. Sometimes this can make them feel wobbly and eventually need to be removed. A cyst can also form around the buried tooth. Some people have a baby tooth left in their mouth, which has not been naturally pushed out by the buried adult tooth. This baby tooth over time may eventually be lost leaving a gap or require further dental treatment to replace it.”