An Indian
teenager had 232 teeth removed in what surgeons believe may be a world record
operation.
Ashik Gavai
underwent a seven-hour surgery in Mumbai after complaining to his parents about
a painful swelling in the right side of his lower jaw.
The
17-year-old, from a village in western India, initially noticed the problem 18
months ago, but the unusual case had left doctors near his home perplexed.
He has been
diagnosed with a rare condition, identified by doctors as complex odontoma,
which occurs when a single gum forms lots of teeth.continue..
Sunanda
Dhivare-Palwankar, head of dentistry at the city’s JJ Hospital, said it was an
extremely complex operation.
“We operated
on Monday and it took us almost seven hours,” she said.
“We thought
it may be a simple surgery but once we opened it there were multiple pearl-like
teeth inside the jaw bone.”
The medical
team, comprised of two surgeons and two assistants, also found a larger
“marble-like” structure, which they had to “chisel out” and remove in
fragments.
Dr
Dhivare-Palwankar said she had “not seen anything like it before in [her]
30-year career” and her department plan to get in touch with Guinness World
Records about the case.
“It is known
to affect the upper jaw and a maximum of 37 teeth have been extracted from the
tumour in the past,” she told the Mumbai Mirror.
“But in
Ashik's case, the tumour was found deep in the lower jaw and it had hundreds of
teeth.
Mr Gavai’s
family feared the swelling was a cancerous growth, but the teen’s jaw is
expected to heal without any deformities.
The
youngster, who has been left with 28 teeth, will need regular check-ups to
ensure the tumour does not return.
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