Dental tools are visible on a tray at a dentist's office in Walnut Creek, California, July 15, 2021. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

An Illinois man is lucky following what was suppose to be a routine procedure at the dentist. 

Tom Jozsi went to the dentist in nearby Kenosha, Wisconsin for a tooth filling and at one point as the dentist worked, Jozsi swallowed the dental drill bit being used to complete the job. 

Jozsi told the story to WISN-TV in Milwaukee, a fellow Hearst Media outlet, and said it all happened with an inhaling breath just before he went to cough.

"I didn't really even feel it going down. All I felt was a cough. When they did the CT scan they realized, you didn't swallow it. You inhaled it," Jozsi told the Milwaukee ABC affiliate. 

But retrieving the drill bit wasn't going to be an easy task.

"What happens if he can't get it out? And the answer really was, part of my lung was going to have to get removed," Jozsi explained.

Doctors at Aurora Medical Center-Kenosha used a specialized catheter designed to detect lung cancer, and ended the procedure up being very successful. 

Jozsi said he now keeps the tool as a memento on a shelf at home.

Dominic Genetti was born and raised in St. Louis and has been in the media industry since 2003. He holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Northwest Missouri State University, and has covered a variety of subjects including hard news, courts, enterprise features, and sports. From 2011 to 2013, Genetti wrote a syndicated baseball column that published daily throughout the country. He was also awarded the "Community Service" award from the Missouri Press Association for his efforts to bring light to a historic cemetery in disrepair in Hannibal, Missouri. Multimedia coverage is also part of Genetti's repertoire. In 2011 he was named the GateHouse Media Videographer of the Year. Genetti has worked for newspapers in Missouri, Iowa, Texas, and Illinois.