Sharron Thornton Regains Sight After Tooth Implant In Eye

Originally, the eye teeth were those most directly under the eye and thus considered somehow to be of greater value/importance than other teeth.

So, the idea of “giving your eye teeth for” meant a preparedness to give up something of great value.

But alas, here is a case where a woman really does give an eyetooth for nothing short of a miracle — the ability to see, after being blind for nine years. Here’s an animation of the surgery. Here’s the pictures on zimbio. (Warning: photos are graphic!)

Bascom Palmer Eye Institute (Sept. 16, 2009)
Blind for nine years, Sharron “Kay” Thornton has just regained her sight through a first-in-the-U.S. surgical procedure at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. The procedure — modified osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis (MOOKP) — implanted her eyetooth in her eye, as a base to hold a prosthetic lens.

“I’m looking forward to seeing my seven youngest grandchildren for the first time,” said Thornton, 60, of Smithdale, Miss., who was blinded by Stevens-Johnson syndrome in 2000. The rare, serious skin condition destroys the cells on the surface of the eye causing severe scarring of the cornea. “We take sight for granted, not realizing that it can be lost at any moment,” she said. “This truly is a miracle.”

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