A 7-year-old in Chennai, India undergoes five hour surgery to remove 526 teeth from his right cheek. 

The boy was brought to Saveetha Dental College and Hospital earlier this August after complaining of a toothache.  Surgeons found teeth ranging from 0.1mm to 3mm. According to surgeon head Pratibha Ramani,  each tooth was confirmed to be complete with a root, enamel, and small crown.

In order to find the teeth, 

 “We had to drill down into the top [of the lower jaw], make a window and remove the sac” said Ramani.

Although the procedures were complex, the 7 year old mentioned he barely felt discomfort. After 3 days, the boy was discharged with a total of  21 teeth.

After further examination of the boy’s mysterious condition, doctors have identified the abundance of teeth with the rare disease compound composite odontoma. The cause is unknown, but doctors suspect the condition is due to genetic or environmental circumstances.  

Post surgery the boy is doing much better and is happy to have a normal set of teeth in his mouth.