When Brent Chapman's doctor first pitched him on the idea of having one of his own teeth surgically embedded in his eye to restore his sight, he says he felt "a little apprehensive." But then he spoke to a woman in Australia who had undergone the same procedure to tremendous success. "She had been completely blind for 20 years, and is now snow skiing," Chapman, 33, of North Vancouver, said. "I know it sounds a little crazy and science fiction-y." Chapman, who is blind in both eyes, is one of three Canadians undergoing osteo-odonto keratoprosthesis (OOKP) — or as it's more commonly known, tooth-in-eye surgery — at a B.C. hospital this week. It involves removing a patient's tooth, usually the canine, installing a plastic optical lens inside it, and then implanting the whole thing into the eye. While it dates back several decades, the surgery has never been performed in Canada before now.

A Canadian man who could not see had his eyesight restored due to a surprising source—his teeth. Doctors in Vancouver implanted Brent Chapman’s tooth in his eyes in a jaw-dropping procedure. “It is a rare operation that most people have not heard of, even if you are an eye surgeon,” Dr. Greg Moloney, an ophthalmologist and surgeon at Mount Saint Joseph Hospital in Vancouver, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The procedure, known as osteo-odonto keratoprosthesis, or OOKP, uses a patient’s own tooth to craft a support structure for an artificial cornea.

A blind Canadian man could soon see again thanks to a surprising source: his teeth. Yes, you read that right. Earlier this week, Brent Chapman underwent one of Canada’s first-ever “tooth in eye” surgeries. While it might sound like something straight out of science fiction, this jaw-dropping procedure has been restoring sight in other parts of the world for decades. “It is a rare operation that most people have not heard of, even if you are an eye surgeon,” Dr. Greg Moloney, an ophthalmologist and surgeon at Mount Saint Joseph Hospital in Vancouver, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). The procedure, called osteo-odonto keratoprosthesis (OOKP), uses a patient’s own tooth to craft a support structure for an artificial cornea.

A trio of Canadians are on track to become the country’s first residents to have their eyesight restored thanks in part to their teeth. Osteo-odonto keratoprosthesis, more commonly known as “tooth-in-eye” surgery, involves harvesting the body's strongest natural substance to craft a specialized lens implant.

Brent Chapman was 13 years old when he took two ibuprofen tablets during a basketball tournament. He fell into a coma, and when he awoke a month later, he was blind. The tooth is the perfect structure to hold a focusing piece of plastic or a telescope.