Doctors extract 526 teeth from Indian boy

Indian doctors removed a tumour with a record number of 526 teeth inside a 7-year-old boy's mouth, the medical team in the southern city of Chennai said on Friday.

The 200 gram (7 ounce) growth was lodged in the boy's lower right jaw, said Senthilnathan P, a doctor at Saveetha Dental College and Hospital, where the operation was performed.

Doctors pose with a 7-year-old boy, whose tooth-like structures were removed from his mouth, at a hospital in Chennai, India, August 2, 2019. According to the doctors, the boy had started to complain of jaw pain and swelling and investigation revealed the presence of a large lesion with multiple hard structures within the portion of the right side of his jaw. More than 500 teeth were removed from the mouth of the boy, doctors added. Reuters

"He had come to us complaining about a swelling in his jaw," Senthilnathan told Reuters, saying the boy had a history of swelling since he was three.

"It was a benign tumour, which we removed and found that it was embedded with hundreds of unerupted teeth," he added of the operation last month, saying Indian doctors believed the number of teeth was a global medical record.

A doctor shows a scan of the mouth of a 7-year-old boy inside a hospital in Chennai, India, August 2, 2019. According to the doctors, the boy had started to complain of jaw pain and swelling and investigation revealed the presence of a large lesion with multiple hard structures within the portion of the right side of his jaw. More than 500 teeth were removed from the mouth of the boy, doctors added. Reuters

A tumour with unerupted teeth is typically a genetic condition that can also be in some cases caused by external factors such as trauma to a tooth, the doctor said. "The boy recovered very well and got discharged in three days," he added.