60 years old Sharron “Kay” Thornton lost her eyesight in 2000 due to a disease that scarred her cornea.

After some failed attempts to correct her condition, a procedure called modified osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis was tried on her. In this procedure, an oral surgeon removes one of the patient’s teeth (yes, teeth), drills a hole in it, and inserts a lens through the hole.

After a few preparations (which include, you’re reading right, implanting the tooth in the shoulder and using skin from the cheek to prepare the eye) the tooth is implanted in the eye and is now used as part of the eye.

Since the operation, Thornton’s eyesight keeps improving and she can now read newspapers.

 

A tooth for an eye. Photo by ‘smil

You can read the full story here (via The Los Angeles Times) or about the procedure in Wikipedia

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