A 38-year-old patient had for years complained of trouble breathing and congestionAfter an examination, the doctors diagnosed an unusual problem: a tooth had grown in his nose. The images have been published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
The patient had visited an otolaryngologist in New York because he was having trouble breathing from his nostril right. After a first observation, they saw that he did not have any type of cranial malformation or facial trauma. However, after a physical examination they detected a deviation and drilling nasal septum as well as a obstruction.
The surprise for the doctors came when they decided to do a more thorough examination. They introduced a camera and observed what they called a “white, hard, non-painful mass”. The next step was to perform a CT scan that confirmed that a tooth had grown inside the nose.
What is an ectopic tooth?
What has happened to this 38-year-old patient, strange though, it is not unique in the world and it even has a name. It is known as ‘ectopic tooth’ and a small percentage of the population has this problem. Basically, it consists of the growth of anatomical structures in other parts of the body, although not very far from where they should be, such as, in the case of the teeth, the palate.
The treatment when these types of teeth grow is usually to expand the space by means of an orthodontic to place it in place and sometimes even a small extraction. It is not something serious, but it can cause some physical discomfort or aesthetic problem. In addition, it can make proper oral hygiene difficult.
In the case diagnosed in New York, due to its special conditions, the doctors decided to carry out a surgical extraction. The result was the withdrawal of a 14 centimeter tooth. After the surgery, the patient was followed up for 3 months and, apparently, the symptoms of obstruction and breathing they had been solved.
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