Let me just start this by saying that when it comes to the human body, excess anything makes me deeply uncomfortable. Fingers, toes, heads — it all makes me super uneasy if it’s beyond the number it’s supposed to be.
But I’ve found that in particular, the idea of an excess amount of teeth is enough to make my skin crawl and my whole body curl into itself in an uncomfortable, anxious little ball of “nope.”
So this story definitely got me good.
A little boy in India was complaining about jaw pain to his parents, who noticed significant swelling on his face.
According to Times of India , seven-year-old Ravindranath first began exhibiting some swelling in his right cheek at the age of 3, but were unable to get him to sit still for doctors to examine it. So, they let it go.
Fast-forward four years, and the reoccuring pain had Ravindranath’s parents believing he had a rotten tooth.
They took him to the hospital where he was then referred to Saveetha Dental College.
After a series of tests, X-Rays and CT scans were completed, doctors confirmed he had several tiny teeth growing inside his jaw. He was scheduled for surgery July 11.
On surgery day, doctors cut into Ravindranath’s jaw, expecting to find a few teeth there.
What they found tucked inside his right-side jaw instead was a significant sac-like tumor, which doctors carefully removed, only to discover 526 teeth of various sizes growing inside it.
“It was reminiscent of pearls in an oyster,” one doctor said.
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It took surgeons five hours to completely extract the more than 500 teeth from Ravindranath’s growth.
The teeth were not all the fully grown teeth we’re used to seeing. Instead, they varied significantly in size, some small with others larger, though they were all definitely teeth.
“Even the smallest piece had a crown, root, and an enamel coating like a tooth,” Prathibha Ramani, the college’s head of maxillofacial pathology said.
Following the surgery, 21 healthy teeth were left behind in Ravindranath’s mouth, though he is missing two molars.
The two absent teeth, which would normally he found in his right lower jaw, can be remedied by use of implants when he is 16 or 17, doctors said.
The doctors responsible for extracting the 526 teeth said they have never seen anything like it.
They said Ravindranath’s condiiton is called compound composite odontoma, and it is extremely rare.
“We have never seen these many teeth in any one site,” Dr. Ramani said.
The closest anyone has come to beating Ravindranath’s startling record of pearly whites is a Mumbai teenager who, in 2014, had a total of 232 teeth removed from his mouth.
The exact cause of the condition is unclear, but doctors say chance of recurrence is low.
“Biopsy results showed it was just an abnormal growth,” Dr. Ramani said. “There could be a strong genetic connect, but we cannot rule out environmental factors such as radiation from mobile towers.”
Watch the full video of the extraction below. WARNING: It contains graphic imagery that may upset some viewers.
Whatever the cause, Ravindranath’s smile is bigger than ever, now that his mouth is 526 teeth lighter.
While appearing in front of media, the 7-year-old climbed into his fathers lap and touched his slightly swollen jaw.
“No pain,” he said, flashing the cameras a shy smile.
h/t: Times of India
