By Mubasshir Mushtaq
MUMBAI, India
A teenager in India has had 232 teeth removed in what doctors believe could be a world record.
Ashik Gavai, 17, was brought to hospital by his family with severe pain in his jaw, staff at the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy Hospital, Mumbai, said on Tuesday.
"There was swelling in the lower part of his right jaw," Dr Sunanda Dhivare, head of dental department, said. "We conducted a series of tests and realized there is an usual growth next to one of his molars on the lower right jaw.”
Ashik’s family feared the growth could be cancerous. When the medical team began operating they made an astounding discovery.
"The molar was size of a marble," said Dhivare. "When the surgery was being conducted, we realized there were 232 small teeth next to the base of the molar."
Ashik, who originally comes from Buldhana district in the western state of Maharashtra, underwent a six-hour operation on Monday.
Dhivare and her team are keen to contact the Guinness Book of Records to see if the medical feat warrants inclusion.
The rare condition is known as complex composite odontoma, a type of tumor which makes eating and swallowing difficult.
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