Ian Tibbetts, a 43-year-old man from Britain, damaged his eye in an industrial accident when scrap metal ripped his cornea in six places, and you won’t believe how doctors managed to restore his sight using a tooth. That’s right, it’s a two-part procedure called osteo-odonto-keratoprothesis: first, the tooth and part of the jaw are removed, and a lens is inserted into the tooth using a drill. According to News.com.au, „the tooth and lens are then implanted under the eye socket. After a few months, once the tooth has grown tissues and developed a blood supply, comes the second step: part of the cornea is sliced open and removed and the tooth is stitched into the eye socket. Since the tooth is the patient’s own tissue, the body does not reject it.“
Once the bandages were removed, Tibbetts‘ sight gradually returned, and he saw his sons‘ faces for the first time. He says, „I just cried, gave them a big hug and a kiss. They were totally different than what I’d pictured in my mind. They were just shapes. I couldn’t make them out. I had to actually learn to tell them apart by their voices.“
Official Source: http://laughingsquid.com/blind-man-regains-sight-by-having-his-tooth-implanted-in-his-eye/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwepJT3IGl0&feature=player_embedded
