A 40-year-old Turkish man can consider himself lucky to be alive after having a dental implant screw pushed all the way into his brain cavity by an overzealous dentist.

Ramazan Yilmaz went to a private dental clinic in his home city of Bursa, Turkey, after experiencing serious dental pain. After examining him, the dentist there informed the man that he had loose teeth and a delicate bone structure and that the best solution was to take out his natural teeth and replace them with implants. Trusting the opinion of the expert, Yilmaz agreed to the cost of the dental procedure and to have some of his teeth removed on that very same day. But things started going south from there. First, he heard the doctor, referred to only as A.D. by Turkish media, telling his assistant that the tool used to insert the implant screws into the bone wasn’t working properly, and then he had to endure the pain of having the screws inserted manually by the physician.

“As he attempted to place the screw, I noticed he was exerting excessive force,” Ramazan Yilmaz said. I pointed this out to him, mentioning that I heard a bone-cracking sound, however, he reassured me that it was normal. But as he continued to force the screw, it pierced through my jawbone and into the area behind the eye where the brain and spinal fluid are located.”

As the metal screw pierced through his jaw bone and into the brain cavity, the excruciating pain caused Yilmaz to scream in agony, and the dentist realized the seriousness of the situation after taking an X-ray of the man’s skull. The metal screw was located near the brain and threatened to either kill him or leave him severely disabled.

The dentist quickly got Yilmaz into his car and personally drove him to the Uludag University Hospital emergency room, where doctors scheduled the 40-year-old man for emergency surgery.

“After examinations, it was found that the screw had pierced into the area where the brain and spinal fluid are located,” Ramazan Yilmaz said. “Before the operation, they warned me that I could lose my life. I said goodbye to my children, but, luckily, I made it through the surgery.”

Doctors were able to remove the metal screw without causing any brain damage, and after a few days of recovery, Yilmaz was discharged. He tried contacting the dentist, asking for a refund and compensation of his medical bills, but A.D. allegedly refused, so the 40-year-old Turkish man had no choice but to settle the matter in court.

“I want the authorities and our state officials to take care of this issue,” Yilmaz said. I have two children, if something had happened to me, who would have been held accountable?”

On the other hand, the dentist refuses to take accountability for what happened, claiming that Yilmaz’s near-death experience was the result of an unforeseen medical complication.