New Zealand ? Doctors in New Zealand lost a man’s false teeth during his back surgery but found them four days later – stuck in his throat.

The 81-year-old entered the hospital in February 2005, and his upper dentures were removed before the operation, a Health and Disability Commission report said Friday.

But somehow, the report said, the false teeth got back into the heavily sedated man’s mouth. A neurological condition allowed him to cope with having them in his throat for days – though not easily.

After the operation, the patient complained of “extreme pain,” nurses noticed his voice was husky and he couldn’t eat very much, the report said.

Doctors put a laryngoscope down his throat, found the missing denture plate and removed the teeth.