A man who suffered an unexplained blocked nose for two years astonished doctors who found a tooth growing inside his nostril.
The unidentified 59-year-old, who has undergone surgery to remove the tooth, complained to doctors in Denmark about nasal congestion problems, discharge and loss of his sense of smell.
The individual experienced a facial trauma when he was young which resulted in a fracture to his jaw and nose.
However, doctors said there was no evidence to suggest repositioning following the incident was connected to the nasal growth condition.
"Our patient most likely had the intranasal retained tooth most of his life, but had late onset of symptoms," wrote Dr Milos Fuglsang in BMJ Case Reports, who carried out the tooth extraction at University Hospital Aarhus's ear, nose and throat facility.
Following a CT scan, doctors decided to use an endoscope to perform a surgical extraction.
The exact cause of the rare condition is unknown, with only 23 patients identified from a previous study from 1959 to 2008.
Specialists believe it could be due to trauma, infections from a cyst, or developmental disturbances such as cleft lip or cleft palate, but have no obvious explanation for this particular case.
The issue can affect both children and adults, but reported cases so far suggest it is more common in men by 60%.
It appears that the extraction procedure has cleared up the individual's blocked nose troubles, with no new symptoms reported a month later.
