Indian teen has 232 teeth removed from mouth

Ashik Gavai suffers complex odontoma, a rare condition in which a tumour grows under a gum and creates smaller tooth-like growths called denticles.

MUMBAI, India - Dental surgeons in India's largest city say they have removed 232 small "tooth-like structures" from the mouth of a teenage boy with a rare medical condition.

They said the 17-year-old from a small village in western India had been suffering from jaw pain and swelling for more than 18 months.

Surgeon Dr. Vandana Thoravade said Ashik Gavai suffered complex odontoma, a rare condition in which a tumour grows under a gum and creates smaller tooth-like growths called denticles.

"We are very happy, while operating, we were removing one after another denticles and passing on to the medical staff to keep, but when surgery was over and when we spread the denticles and started counting ... while doing the surgery we were unaware that (there were) so many, so many, so many denticles."

He said the team of dental surgeons took seven hours to remove all the denticles in the operation earlier this week. They were surprised at how many they totaled when counted up and believe it may be the most ever in a case of odontoma.

The teen is recovering.