A 75-year-old man nearly choked to death after he accidentally swallowed his dentures, reports say. The man, identified as Zhu Benbiao, of eastern China, was reportedly having issues eating and breathing when his family rushed him to First Hospital of Fozhou, AsiaWire reported.

X-rays showed one of his two dentures had gotten stuck in the bottom of his throat, which required a four-hour emergency surgery to remove.

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“One end was in his esophagus, and the other in his windpipe, sticking out of his glottis,” Dr. Chen Zeyu, the hospital’s chief gastroenterologist, told AsiaWire. “We cut open his windpipe, kept him breathing with the help of a tube, and then removed the dentures by pulling them from his glottis. It was hard, but we managed to get it out in the end.”

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Family members estimated that the dentures had been lodged in this throat for eight hours before the operation. They reportedly believe he had swallowed them while eating but didn’t signal any trouble until they noticed he was having issues breathing.

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Benbiao is said to still be recovering at the hospital, according to AsiaWire.