Mumbai: Doctors have used a tooth to give a blind man his vision back. Expert doctors at Taparia Eye Institute of Bombay Hospital have restored the eyesight of Bakridi Ansari’s left eye by performing ‘tooth-in-eye surgery’.

The treatment has taken five months. Doctors used Ansari’s canine tooth, its root and surrounding bone. Now he can recognize color, shapes and count fingers at distance of two feet.

“Today I can see, I don’t know, how to thank the doctors, they are gods for me and my family. Howsoever, I thank them, will be less,” said Ansari, the patient from Basti in Uttar Pradesh.

Ansari, 50, lost his vision in early 90’s due to corneal ulcers.

Corneal surgeon Sonia Nankani from Taparia Eye Institute of Bombay Hospital, New Marine Lines, said, “He underwent two corneal transplants, but his vision failed in both eyes. For the past two years, he was completely without vision, prompting us to attempt the modified osteo ordonto kerato prosthesis (MOOKP).”

Dr Ashish Tiwari, Bombay Hospital spokesman said that for the first time such an operation has been performed in Maharashtra.

“We are collecting details from various places to find out where such surgeries have been done,” Tiwari said.

With its origin in Italy, MOOKP surgery depends on the patient’s canine tooth, which is used as a tissue to fuse a plastic cornea with the rest of the eye. It is a two stage operation.

The procedure of operation involves removing a canine tooth from the patient, shaping and drilling it to allow the implantation of an artificial plastic corneal device and implanting it back into the eye after few months.

MOOKP surgery has now become a feasible option for many blind patients.