One woman’s bid to improve her smile didn’t go to plan when her dental implant migrated into her nasal septum in a clinical first, Portuguese doctors report.

The 37-year-old presented to the Hospital de Braga ED complaining of nasal obstruction and pain one week after a dental implant was placed in her upper incisive region, the otorhinolaryngologists write in BMJ Case Reports.

She had no local pain or swelling in the gingival mucosa and denied having a fever, a history of nasal trauma or illicit drug use.

Rhinoscopy demonstrated bilateral bulging of the anterior septum with “exuberant” oedema, erythema of the mucosa and complete obliteration of the nasal cavity.