An Intranasal Ectopic Tooth in an Adult

Ectopic teeth can be supernumerary, deciduous or permanent, and can occur in a wide variety of locations outside of the cavity of the mouth. While supernumerary teeth are rare, supernumerary intranasal teeth are rarer. It is not clear what causes the eruption of teeth intranasally; however, trauma, infection, radiation, and developmental defects may be significant factors in their etiology. We report the case of a 33-year-old woman who presented in the otorhinolaryngology department with complaints of rhinorrhea, nasal obstruction, snoring, pain in the forehead, and bad odor that did not improve with conservative treatment. She had a history of extraction of a supernumerary tooth located in the hard palate. During the endoscopic examination, a second tooth-like body was found in the right nasal cavity, which was later surgically removed with endoscopic guidance. During the follow-up visits at three, six, and 12 months, the patient showed a significant reduction of symptoms with remaining rare reoccurrence of mild sinusitis more prominent on the left side as seen in CT scan, thus presumably unrelated to the ectopic intranasal tooth. Although an intranasal ectopic tooth is a very rare finding, it may cause significant morbidity and its removal improves the quality of life of the patient. The benefits of endoscopic removal are greater visibility, better illumination, and precision in surgical removal.