Man In US Goes To Dentist To Get Tooth Filled, Inhales Drill Bit Into Lung

A man in the United States had to be rushed to the hospital after he inhaled a dentist's drill bit. The incident happened during Tom Jozsi's regular visit to the dentist in Illinois, CNN reported.

The 60-year-old was at the dentist getting a tooth filled when he swallowed an inch-long drill bit.

Speaking to WISN12 News, Jozsi said, “I was at the dentist getting a tooth filled, and then next thing I know I was told I swallowed this tool.”

“I didn't really even feel it going down. All I felt was a cough. When they did the CT scan they realised ‘you didn't swallow it, you inhaled it',” he added.

According to the doctors, inhaling just before he coughed sent the metal object deep into Jozsi's airways, the WISN report further said. It was so deep that normal scans couldn't detect it, doctors further said.

“When I saw the CAT scan, and where that object is sitting, it was really far down on the right lower lobe of the lung,” pulmonary expert Dr Abdul Alraiyes said.

A rare medical procedure was carried out by Dr Alraiyes and his team using a new device - which is used for detecting cancer.

The medical team was successfully able to pull out the metal piece from the narrow airways without any harm to Jozsi. “I was never so happy in my life when I opened my eyes,” the 60-year-old said.

He told WISN12 News that the tool that came out of his lung has been kept on a shelf at home.