Chinese woman is shocked to discover a tooth growing in her nose

When a woman from China suffered constant nosebleeds for decades, few people could have predicted the cause, a tooth growing in her nose.

The patient, identified only by her surname Xia, believed for years that she had severe case of rhinitis, an inflammation of the nose membrane.

But a scan proved otherwise and the 57-year-old was shocked to discover she had a tooth growing in her nasal cavity. 

Doctors at Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, in Changsha, in south central part of the country, said when they first saw the strange circular object lodged in the woman's nose they didn't immediately know what it was.

Ear, nose and throat specialist Zhou Jianpo said: 'Scans showed a high-density shadow in her right nasal cavity.

'We thought it was a foreign object or some sort of stone.'

However, after taking Xia into surgery, they 'peeled' back layer after layer of membrane and discovered what turned out to be a fully grown tooth inside the woman's nasal cavity, complete with root and crown.

The tooth was pulled from her nose and she has since reported much relief from her symptoms, which as well as decades of nosebleeds include feelings of stuffiness.

Dr Zhou said the condition is known as supernumerary teeth, which causes an extra tooth or teeth to grow in often random places on the face.

The condition is present at birth and the medic notes that the tooth develops during pregnancy.

In August this year an eight-year-old boy from Zhejiang Province in eastern China was also found with a supernumerary tooth in his nasal cavity.

The condition is extremely rare, with fewer than 20 documented cases in all of China.

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