A boy in Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province has been getting unexpected visitors every time he brushes his teeth: tiny worms in his mouth and on his toothbrush.

The mother of the boy, whose name was not given, said that in October, the boy first told her that he'd noticed worms attached to his toothbrush whenever he cleaned his teeth.

"They'd wriggle around in the bristles and then die after about 10 minutes," his mother reported.

On February 8, the boy's parents sent him to a clinic at a local hospital, where a few samples of the worms were collected.

Doctors observed them with the naked eye and then took them in for further examinations under a microscope, but were unable to determine the exact species.

According to experts, further research is needed to determine whether they are a new parasite and how to treat them.

The boy, in the meantime, was sent home and told to maintain better oral hygiene.

hsw.cn