For the first time in Canada, doctors successfully performed on a woman the first stage of a rare procedure which involves implanting a tooth into the eye of a blind person to restore their vision Gail Lane, who went blind a decade ago, had the first part of her surgery towards the end of February at Mount Saint Joseph Hospital in Vancouver, as per a Facebook post by the hospital. The procedure involves removing a patient’s tooth, typically the canine, placing a plastic optical lens inside it, and then implanting the entire structure into the eye, CBC reported. “It is a rare operation that most people have not heard of, even if you are an eye surgeon,” Dr Greg Moloney, an ophthalmologist and surgeon at the hospital, told the CBC. The doctors first extracted one of Lane's teeth, shaped it into a rectangle, drilled a hole, and inserted a plastic optical lens inside. The modified tooth was then placed in Lane's cheek, where it will remain for approximately three months, the report stated. A few months later, the doctors will remove the tooth from the cheek and implant it into the front of the eye, beneath the cheek tissue. The result will be a pink-coloured eye with a small black circle through which the patient can see. Due to the complexity of the surgery, it is only performed on one eye, according to Lane's doctors, the CBC reported. Talking about the surgery to CTV News, Lane expressed the pain of being unable to see herself. “I haven’t seen myself for 10 years. If I’m fortunate enough to get some sight back, there will be wonderful things to see,” she said. Two others are also set to undergo the rare "tooth-in-eye" procedure.
