Indus worm Indus worm The skōlex (Indus Worm or the horrible Indian worm), in ancient Greek writings, was a supposed giant, white, carnivorous worm with a large pair of teeth that lived in the Indus River. Gustav Oppert in the 19th century reasoned that "skōlex" referred to a like-sounding word in the Indian language, and was convinced the word was "culukī" () for "fish" or "porpoise". In his opinion, the word could refer even to a "crocodile" by extension. Scholar Erik Seldeslachts, in a 1998 paper, has suggested parallel with "kṛmiḥ" () which has the duel meaning of "worm" and a name
Tooth worm found, some practitioners believed the pulp root to the tooth to in fact be a worm. Most however admitted to have never encountered a worm "in vivo", but nonetheless encouraged the belief among the general public. A 2009 study by the University of Maryland Baltimore using micro imaging revealed worm like structures within a dissected molar. These structures, while not worms or caused by worms may have given rise to the Tooth Worm belief. It is unclear what these structures are or what caused them. Tooth worm The idea of a tooth worm is an erroneous theory of the cause