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Fact or Fiction: Pulling an Eye Tooth Causes Blindness

"The Truth About Pulling an Eye Tooth"

November 26, 2010

The old wives tale states that if one pulls an eye tooth, the patient will go blind. Is there any truth to this myth? Is it safe to pull this tooth which is very close to the eyes, or will the patient lose their eyesight if the eye tooth is removed? Read on to find out…

A teenaged girl was referred to our office by her orthodontist (braces doctor). The orthodontist requested our office extract the girl’s eye tooth. Upon examination, x-rays revealed the girl’s eye tooth was actually very deep inside her upper jaw and was horizontal! Not only that, the eye tooth was 27 mm (about 1”) and had created a lot of damage to the surrounding teeth. The root of the upper incisor was half gone and the upper bicuspid was also suffering from root damage. This tooth absolutely needed to be extracted. I am thankful the girl’s orthodontist referred her to me so I could remove the tooth before permanent damage to the surrounding teeth (which could include loss of the two teeth) occurred. If the tooth was removed now, the teeth could be saved.

So, back to the wives tale, is it safe to remove the eye tooth? Should the mother be worried about her daughter’s precious eyesight? The answer is simple: YES! It is absolutely safe to remove the eye tooth. There is no link between the removal of this tooth and blindness.

After the big, long, horizontal eye tooth was removed and the two surrounding teeth were saved, the teenage girl now had enough space for her orthodontist to create a Hollywood smile!

We are certainly glad the mother knew the difference between fact and fiction with the myth of the eye tooth.

GOOD JOB, MOM!