A 16-year-old Indian boy has had a mature canine tooth removed – from the superior orbit of his left eye.

According to the case, published in Ophthalmology,1 the boy had painless swelling in his upper eyelid for a month, with no history of trauma.

Examination revealed two hard, well-defined, white-coloured projections between his eyelid and eyebrow.

“Computed tomography demonstrated a well-defined hyperdense structure with crown–root morphology arising from the left orbital roof, extending into the preseptal space and projecting externally with two tooth-like projections on its surface,” according to the case notes.1 The ectopic tooth was surgically removed.

Speaking to online news site Medpage Today,2 Dr Meghana Tanwar, of Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai, India, said the tooth “mainly posed a cosmetic rather than functional problem for our patient, as it was not impinging on any other structures in the orbit”.

“But if the tooth migrated to have close proximity to any of the orbital structures, such as muscle, eye, nerve, or vessels, it could have had functional issues due to the mechanical compression of these structures.”

References available at mivision.com.au.