#tooth

#tooth

Construction Workers at Northwest Iowa Community College Discover Woolly Mammoth ToothA once-in-a-lifetime event indeed!Justin Blawet, a construction employee, found an item that was confirmed to be a woolly mammoth tooth on the grounds of a property owned by the Northwest Iowa Community College in Sheldon, Iowa. The tooth was exposed during excavation and was discovered by Blauwet. However, knowing what it was and realizing its importance at first glance was because of Blawet’s enthusiasm for fossils and prehistoric animals. The discovery was a lucky find, according to Tiffany Adrain, a Paleontology Repository Instructor at the University of Iowa. “While discovery of mammoth remains is not uncommon in Iowa, once the bones and teeth are out in the open, they can fall apart and disappear quickly because they are not completely fossilized,” she further explained. The professor was called by the staff to confirm the fossil’s identity. The tooth is now being preserved to protect it from drying out too rapidly and disintegrating. As for where it will be placed, the Northwest Iowa Community College said that the plan is to put it at the Sheldon Prairie Museum as a semi-permanently loaned display.Image credit: DGR Engineering #discovery #fossil #tooth #woollymammoth #Iowa

Having Trouble Breathing? Could be a Tooth Growing in Inside Your Nose!Uh, yikes.Mount Sinai surgeons discovered a tooth growing inside an unnamed 38-year-old New York resident’s nose. The man visited a doctor after having trouble breathing for several years. Initial examinations revealed that the patient’s septum (the partition between the nasal passages) was pushed to the side. In order to actually find the cause of this issue, a rhinoscopy was done. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons Sagar Khanna and Michael Turner then discovered a shocking anomaly inside the man’s nose– a tooth was growing inside! The patient had a 15-millimeter ectopic tooth, an exceedingly rare condition. This involves the teeth sprouting up in the jawbone under the gum rather than in the mouth. The doctors were able to remove the lost tooth and three months later, the man’s breathing problems were resolved. Image credit: Jam Press via The New York Press #tooth #surgery #ectopictooth