A teenage boy complained of pain in his cheek and jaw. When doctors conducted an X-ray of his mouth, they discovered the unthinkable: 232 teeth.
In 2014, 17-year-old Ashik Gavai from India discovered he was suffering from a condition called complex odontoma. This condition leads to the formation of tooth-like growths made up of enamel, dentin, and pulp — the same components as teeth.
The condition typically occurs in teenagers, but doctors have never seen anything like this before. In fact, medical literature at the time claimed the maximum amount of teeth removed in a single procedure was 37.
The removal lasted seven hours, but Gavai was a trooper throughout the entire thing.
"We thought it [would] be simple surgery, but once we opened [him up], there were multiple pearl-like teeth inside the jaw bone," said dentistry head Sunanda Dhivare-Palwankar.
Doctors also discovered a larger "marble-like" structure that was difficult to extract. The growth had to be chiseled and then removed in pieces. Gavai's father was relieved because he feared his son had oral cancer.
The surgeons were remarkably able to maintain Gavai's jawbone structure, meaning he was able to heal without any deformities. Dentists say that once the odontomas have been removed, they don't grow back.
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