An Indian teenager has become the subject of a rare medical case after doctors discovered and surgically removed a fully formed canine tooth from his left eye socket — a location where such a growth had never previously been documented.

The 16-year-old boy had noticed a painless swelling in his eyelid for about a month but did not seek hospital treatment until two hard, white points began protruding through his skin.

Doctors at Aravind Eye Hospital in India suspected the unusual growth could be a tooth because of its colour, texture and relatively smooth surface.

Medical scans confirmed their suspicion, revealing a fully formed canine tooth in the space between the teenager’s eyelid and eyebrow.

Dr Meghana Tanwar, a medical consultant at the hospital and co-author of the report documenting the case, told Live Science that the structure of the tooth in the upper eye socket was clearly visible.

According to Dr Tanwar, this is the first documented case of an ectopic tooth growing in the superior orbit — the upper portion of the eye socket.

“To the best of our knowledge this is the first and only ectopic tooth reported in the superior orbit,” she said.

“This was a first not just for us but the world over. …We were very surprised by it.”

The tooth was successfully removed through surgery. Doctors found no evidence of any other abnormality or underlying cause for its unusual growth.

The case has attracted attention because of the extraordinary location of the tooth.

Known medically as an ectopic tooth, it occurs when a tooth develops or erupts in an abnormal location rather than following its usual path into the mouth.

Ectopic teeth are most commonly found in the maxillary sinus, an air-filled cavity behind the nasal cavity, but they can occasionally develop in other parts of the body.

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