If you suffer from odontophobia, you'll want to turn back now.
For those without odontophobia, that's a fear of teeth.
Or dental surgery.
And if you didn't have it before, you may soon.
Ever experience a sore jaw?
Seven year-old Ravindranath of Chennai India did. So his parents took him to the hospital.
His swollen right cheek looked like symptoms of a decayed tooth to his parents. No big deal.
But tucked inside his right lower jaw was what appeared to be a tumor. After a five hour surgery, doctors discovered otherwise.
Instead there were 526 teeth that dentists had to remove surgically. The abnormal teeth were embedded in the jaw bone, but not visible from outside the mouth.
Dentists surgically removed all of the extra teeth leaving Ravindranath with the normal number of teeth for a seven year-old: 21.
526 teeth removed from Chennai boy’s mouth The swollen right cheek of seven-year-old Ravindranath looked like sym… https://t.co/701q0R7tkE— Times of India (@Times of India)1564577700.0
Tamil Nadu: 526 teeth were removed from the lower jaw of a 7-year-old boy at a hospital in Chennai. Dr Senthilnatha… https://t.co/Cqg1AfGuIE— ANI (@ANI)1564581977.0
Doctors have extracted an astounding 526 teeth from the mouth of a seven-year-old boy in a #raresurgery performed a… https://t.co/Xd06Ynt4Jy— National Herald (@National Herald)1564567935.0
Extra teeth is not overly uncommon, but generally it's only one or two.
526 extra teeth was a shock for even the dental surgeons.
One thing was on many people's minds:
how much of a haul is that going to be from the tooth fairy?
@flyaway_k @ANI The going rate for teeth at our house is $1. That’s some fat stacks of cash to put under a pillow.— Ed 🌊🇺🇸🇬🇹🍺 (@Ed 🌊🇺🇸🇬🇹🍺)1564617020.0
@ANI https://t.co/tnlUf07rzl— Andrew Cade (@Andrew Cade)1564594726.0
@ezCoinAccess @ANI She's probably in ecstasy right now— lucascandidodemattos (@lucascandidodemattos)1564593113.0
@211Pine @ANI What do you mean not real?— Ads 🤷🏽♂️ (@Ads 🤷🏽♂️)1564602146.0
@TripnoticMusic @ANI i also said that that boy is very lucky.. also the tooth fairy— sPaRkLe bRiGhTⓋ❤︎ (@sPaRkLe bRiGhTⓋ❤︎)1564598834.0
According to doctors, this is the first recorded case in the world that an individual had so many minute extra teeth.
The tumor is called an odontoma made up of the same materials that produce normal healthy teeth.
@realEDdoc @LittleMissLizz @ANI Hmmm, but if it's in his jaw and contains loads of teeth, would it not make more se… https://t.co/fULqWufvWM— Kieran Gallagher (@Kieran Gallagher)1564612464.0
A speedy recovery to young Ravindranath.
Although being able to do this to a future dentist might have been cool...
Abnormalities of human anatomy have existed as long as humans. Some have all but disappeared due to advances in medicine. However at one tme there were few options for people with visible differences. Many turned to the only way they could make a living, circus side shows. The book American Sideshow: An Encyclopedia of History's Most Wondrous and Curiously Strange Performers, available here gives a glimpse into that history.