An Illinois man's trip to dentist office to get a tooth filled turned into an emergency visit to a nearby hospital after he accidentally inhaled an inch-long dental drill bit that got stuck in his lung.
Tom Jozsi, 60, told WISN-TV about what happened last month during his dentist's appointment, saying that he "didn't really even feel it going down."
"Well, I don't know. I was at the dentist getting a tooth filled, and then next thing I know I was told I swallowed this tool," Jozsi said. "I didn't really even feel it going down. All I felt was a cough. When they did the CT scan they realized, you didn't swallow it. You inhaled it."
The CT scan showed the drill bit went deep down into Jozsi's lung, and if they couldn't find a way to get it out, then they would have likely had to remove a piece of his lung.
"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," Dr. Abdul Alraiyes said.
Dr. Alraiyes and his team at Aurora Medical Center-Kenosha, Wisconsin decided on using a different technique with a newer medical device to get the drill bit out of Jozsi's lung.
"It's more for early detection of cancer, especially lung cancer," Dr. Alraiyes said.
WISN-TV's Ken Wainscott asked Dr. Alraiyes if he knew that this device, a robotic ion catheter, could be used to get the object out.
"Exactly right. The reason is this. The size of this catheter," Dr. Alraiyes said.
Doctors were able to remove the drill bit by going through Jozsi's airways and pulling it out. The procedure did not cause any extra damage to his lungs. Jozsi couldn't believe that doctors were able to get the object out of his lungs so easily.
"I was never so happy as when I opened my eyes, and I saw him with a smile under that mask shaking a little plastic container with the tool in it," Jozsi said.
Naturally, the 60-year-old maintenance worker kept the drill bit as a souvenir, and placed it on display on shelf in his house.
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