A dad claims a routine filling left him with a 'ticking time bomb' in his belly - when the dentist 'dropped a drill bit down his throat'. Scott Pearson says he felt something land in the back of his throat just before his dentist began drilling to replace a filling. The 34-year-old tried coughing but says a 2cm-long drill tip had already slid down his oesophagus, leaving the medic 'panicked' but blase Scott told her not to worry.
Staff reportedly said the attachment should pass naturally but when they informed his GP the doctors called Scott and ordered him to rush to A&E the same day. The 'panicked' train driver was relieved when an X-ray showed it wasn't worryingly lodged in his lung but it was passing through his digestive system instead. Scott checked for the drill bit after he went to the toilet every day and attended Chesterfield Royal Hospital for scans every two weeks to see where it was.
He says online research convinced him the thin tip was dangerously stuck but medics repeatedly brushed it off until he insisted on a scan to check if he was right. Nine weeks after the accident in October 2022 medics confirmed his suspicions and carried out a 'life-saving' appendectomy to remove the drill bit and stop it puncturing his appendix, which could have been fatal. Scott says 'it's a relief it's finally over' and believes the tip could have killed him had the 'ticking time bomb' been left in his appendix for any longer.
The dad-of-two, whose work mates now call him 'drill bi.