The teeth — more than seven times what an average human has — were crammed into a single marble-sized molar in the teenager’s jaw
Ashik Gavai
Doctors at JJ Hospital were left stunned when they extracted 232 teeth from a teenager’s jaw on Monday. Senior doctors at the dental department of the hospital said they had never come across such a case before.
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Teething troubles: Ashik Gavai and the teeth that were extracted from his mouth
Ashik Gavai (17), a Std X student from Buldhana, was brought to the hospital by his kin as he had a large swelling on the right side of his face. After several rounds of tests, doctors realised that there was an unusual growth next to one of his molars on the lower right jaw. “The molar in question was around the size of a marble and while his surgery was being conducted, we realised there were many small teeth lodged inside it,” said Dr Sunanda Dhivare, head of the dental department.
“We were shocked when we counted them and realised that 232 tiny teeth had been extracted. Apart from this, he also had a formation on the molar which resembled a big stone and had to be removed separately through another technique to ensure that his other teeth weren’t affected,” said Dhivare.
She added that Gavai was suffering from a condition known as complex composite odontoma. “It is a benign tumour which makes it difficult to chew and swallow food and disfigures the face. We suspect it affected that particular molar during his development stage in his post-teething period,” she said.
The surgery lasted nearly seven hours and Gavai is stable now. He is expected to lead a normal life following the treatment, which would have cost more than Rs 1 lakh in private hospitals.
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