Illinois man inhales drill bit during Kenosha dental visit

KENOSHA, Wis. - What was supposed to be a routine dental visit turned into a rare procedure after a drill bit got stuck in an Illinois man's lung.

Tom Joszi, 60, says he visited his dentist in Kenosha to get a filling. At some point during the procedure, he coughed and inhaled the drill bit.

"I didn’t really even feel it going down. All I felt was a cough. When they did the CT scan they realized, ‘You didn’t swallow it. You inhaled it,’" he said, according to WISN-TV.

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Dr. Abdul Alraiyes, at Aurora Medical Center-Kenosha in Wisconsin, said the bit was so deep that normal scopes couldn’t reach it. So, doctors had to use a special device — one not designed for removing foreign objects but that’s meant for early detection of cancer.

Jozsi said he was told that if the bit couldn’t be taken out, part of his lung would have to be removed.

Thankfully, the procedure worked and doctors were able to pull out the bit without any harm.

"I was never so happy as when I opened my eyes, and I saw him with a smile under that mask shaking a little plastic container with the tool in it," Jozsi said.

Joszi says he kept the bit on a shelf at home as a memento.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.