This bites.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not entirely unheard of for teeth to grow in places other than the mouth, a condition known as ectopic teeth<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, a 16-year-old boy in India developed an ectopic tooth in a highly unusual place, which doctors are calling a first ever in the world in a case study<\/a> of the atypical event.<\/p>\n In what was likely a first-of-its-kind case, a teenage boy presented an ectopic tooth growing in a highly unusual place. American Academy of Ophthalmology<\/p>\n Medical literature has previously reported several cases of extra teeth growing in the nasal cavity, under the eye, in the nostrils<\/a> and in the maxillary sinus<\/a>, which is located inside the cheekbone.<\/p>\n This patient, though, had \u201cthe first and only ectopic tooth reported in the superior orbit,\u201d according to case study co-author Dr. Meghana Tanwar, referring to the upper eye socket.<\/p>\n The teen patient first experienced painless swelling on his left upper eyelid, which lasted for a few months. He later saw two sharp, white projections poking out in the small space between his eyelid and eyebrow.<\/p>\n While the doctors initially thought the points were a teratoma, a rare type of tumor that can include bone and tooth tissue, a CT scan revealed they were indeed part of a mature canine tooth.<\/p>\n The doctors were able to surgically remove the tooth from the eyelid, and since imaging showed no other signs of additional teeth, Tanwar notes it\u2019s unlikely the patient had any more ectopic teeth.<\/p>\n Many people experience teeth growing \u201cout of place,\u201d with about 2% to 6% of people<\/a> seeing their first permanent molars grow out of line in the expected rows of teeth.<\/p>\n The mature canine tooth was removed from the patient\u2019s left upper eye socket, an extremely rare location. American Academy of Ophthalmology<\/p>\n This tooth appeared completely outside the dental arch, an extremely rare occurrence<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was a first not just for us but the world over,\u201d Tanwar said of the case. \u201cWe were very surprised by it.\u201d<\/p>\n In a different patient, Tanwar had seen a tooth in the bottom of an eye socket. It turned out to be part of a rare, benign mass consisting of normal tooth-forming tissue called an odontogenic choristoma<\/a>.<\/p>\n Leaving an ectopic tooth in could cause permanent damage. American Academy of Ophthalmology<\/p>\n The cause of the tooth in the teen\u2019s upper eye socket is unclear to doctors.<\/p>\n Leaving an ectopic tooth in could cause permanent damage<\/a> to surrounding teeth, formation of cysts or sinus or nasal issues, depending where the tooth is located.<\/p>\n Some studies suggest<\/a> that ectopic teeth may grow in unusual places because of developmental disorders, physical trauma, infection or genetics.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was a first not just for us but the world over,\u201d according to case study co-author Dr. Meghana Tanwar. \u201cWe were very surprised by it.\u201d American Academy of Ophthalmology<\/p>\n A previous case of a rare ectopic tooth caused a man to have difficulty breathing when doctors discovered a half-inch-long tooth growing inside his right nostril.<\/p>\n The 38-year-old New York man had reported to the doctor after experiencing breathing difficulties for several years, according to a New England Journal of Medicine<\/a> case study detailing the olfactory anomaly.<\/p>\n In addition to a deviated septum, the patient also had bone-like growths in the nose, which doctors were able to remove via invasive intra-nasal surgery.<\/p>\n