A dental drill accident in Sweden resulted in woman having a drill bit lodged in her right lung which took her over a month to recover.
The patient, a 60-year-old woman, was having dental implant surgery at Västmanland County Hospital in Västerås, in central Sweden, according to The Local, an English publication in Sweden. The dental drill accident occurred when a part of the drill came loose from the grip and fell into her mouth. The patient was quickly pulled into a sitting position, but it had already gone into her lung.
An x-ray later showed that the 3-centimeter bit had lodged itself behind her right lung, which turned a dental drill accident into a dental drill disaster. Doctors immediately performed emergency surgery, removing the drill bit with a microscopic tube and pliers.
"She tried to spit it out, and was made to cough, but she'd already swallowed," said the hospital's medical chief Per Weitz.
"A pinky-sized tube was sent into her lung with a small camera and pliers to grab hold of the drill," explained Weitz.
The patient, who was not named, was able to leave the hospital the day after her bronchoscopy, but did not recover fully for another month.
Dr Weitz said that new safety procedures have been introduced, including testing dental drills in the air, to avoid similar accidents in future.
But he conceded: "Unfortunately, drills are going to be dropped every now and then."
