In an unfortunate incident, a patient who attended a dental clinic in Västmanland county, Sweden to have the filling from a recently repaired tooth cleaned, swallowed the dentist’s drill bit.
In the middle of the procedure the dentist's drill bit came loose and before the dentist or attending hygienist could react, the patient had swallowed the end of the dental tool. He had no signs of discomfort but was admitted to the emergency room in nearby Västerås for precautionary x-rays. The bit had come to the patient’s stomach but there were no symptoms. It was expected to come out “the natural way” according to a statement from the Västmanland county council.
This occurred in October 2010 and has been reported to the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen) under Sweden’s Lex Maria laws, the informal name used to refer to regulations governing the reporting of injuries or incidents in the Swedish health care system.