Doctors Find Tooth In Pensioner's Lung

A pensioner suffering from breathing problems was found to have a tooth lodged in his lung.

Gordon Billingham, 77, who has worn false teeth for several years, was so short of breath he could barely walk and was coughing up blood.

He feared he was suffering from emphysema, but doctors using a miniature camera discovered the problem was an old molar in his lung.

 

Mr Billingham, from Crook, County Durham, said: "I was watching the screen and I saw the tooth inside my lung, although I didn't know what it was at the time.

"I was flabbergasted. It might have been down there for years."

Doctors removed the offending tooth using a probe. It is thought he must have inhaled it accidentally during his sleep.

Mr Billingham added: "Nobody could believe it when we told them. Even the doctors were shocked. They said it was the first time they had ever taken a tooth out of somebody's lung."