Blind Canadian Gail Lane regains sight with tooth in eye socket

An eye for an eye and a tooth… for an eye?

A blind Canadian woman has had her vision partly restored after undergoing a bizarre operation that surgically implanted a tooth into her left eye socket.

Gail Lane, 75, who lost her sight a decade ago when an auto-immune disorder left her corneas badly scarred, is one of three Canadians to receive the rare osteo-odonto keratoprosthesis procedure, known colloquially as tooth-in-eye surgery.

Lane told the CBC that the first thing she was able to see was light, followed by the wagging tail of her partner’s service dog, a black lab named Piper. She said that since then, her vision has continued to improve.

“I can see lots of color, and I can see outside now,” Lane told the outlet. “The trees and the grass and flowers — it’s a wonderful feeling to be able to see some of those things again.”

Six months after the surgery was completed, she finally saw the face of her beloved, Phil, who she met after she lost her vision.

Ophthalmologist Dr. Greg Moloney of Mount Saint Joseph Hospital in Vancouver was the first physician to bring the rare surgery to Canada.

He said the first step in the procedure is to remove a tooth from the patient, which is then implanted in their cheek for a few months until it gets surrounded by strong connective tissue, the outlet said.

For Lane, doctors used one of her canines, or in this case the aptly nicknamed “eye” tooth.

Next, both the tooth and tissue are removed from the cheek, and a lens or plastic focusing telescope is fitted into a hole drilled into the pulpy mass, which is then stitched into the patient’s eye socket.

“It’s a complex and strange operation, but it basically involves replacing the cornea,” said Moloney, who noted the goal is to create a “structure that is strong enough to hold onto the plastic focusing telescope but is not going to be rejected by the body.”

Moloney described the recovery process as uncomfortable but not painful.

Lane told the outlet she’s thrilled to be able to do more things for herself now.

“I’m hoping to have more mobility and independence in terms of short trips and walks here and there where I don’t always have to have someone’s arm for me to grab onto,” she said.

“I’m just looking forward, really, to seeing what I can do or do again — and trying to just be patient and let my brain adjust a bit because that’s another big part of this.”

She said soon she’ll be receiving a new pair of glasses that should help improve her vision even further.

“I’m starting to see facial features on other people as well, which is also pretty exciting,” Lane said.