A Jerusalem dentist dropped a 3-inch bridge down a patient's trachea, then assured her that it would emerge from her intestinal system without problems, according to a story in the Jerusalem Post.
The bridge fell into the 60-year-old patient's trachea during a procedure before making its way to her lungs, triggering an infection in one lung and nearly puncturing it. The dentist was not identified.
Following her dental visit, the woman went to her doctor complaining of incessant coughing, but he didn't connect it to swallowing the bridge, according to the story. He sent her for an x-ray, which revealed the bridge and a metal bolt in her lungs. The items were removed using a bronchoscope and ultrasound scanner at the Haifa hospital, the Post reported.
The Carmel doctors said they had previously found plastic beads, thumb tacks, and marbles that people had swallowed but never a large dental bridge.
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