20-09-09` Implanted tooth helps blind recovers sight

A 60-year-old US grandmother, blind for nearly a decade, has recovered her sight after surgeons implanted a tooth in her eye as a base to hold a tiny plastic lens, her doctors said.
For patients whose bodies reject a transplanted or artificial cornea, this procedure implants the patient's tooth in the eye to anchor a prosthetic lens and restore vision.

In the procedure -- which was pioneered in Italy but was a first in the United States -- the medical team extracted the patient's canine or "eyetooth" and surrounding bone, shaved and sculpted it, and drilled a hole into it to insert an optical cylinder lens.

The tooth and the lens were implanted under the patient's skin in the cheek or shoulder for two months so they could bond, then they were carefully implanted in the center of the eye after a series of procedures to prepare the socket.

A hole is made in the mucosa for the prosthetic lens, which protrudes slightly from the eye and enables light to re-enter the eye allowing the patient to see once again.

She was able to recognize objects and faces a few hours later, and two weeks later she was able to read newspapers.

Amazing.