Dental surgeons in India extracted 232 "teeth" from the mouth of 17-year-old Ashik Gavai from Mumbai who suffered from a rare medical condition called complex odontoma.

For over 18 months, the Indian teen from a western Indian village endured pain and swelling in his right jaw. Dr. Vandana Thoravade said Gavai's rare condition involved the growth of a tumor under the gums and formation of small tooth-like structures called denticles, the Associated Press detailed.

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The boy's father, Suresh Gavai, feared that his son had a cancerous growth in his jaw. They sought the services of doctors at JJ Hospital where he was diagnosed with the rare condition, the Daily Mail explained.

Odontomas are tooth-like structures that grow in a haphazard arrangement and are made up of enamel, dentin, and pulp tissue. The condition usually occurs in teenagers.

Dr. Thoravade said they were "very happy" throughout the procedure as they continuously removed denticles from the boy's mouth and passed them to the medical staff. It was not until the surgery was done when they became aware that there were a lot of denticles removed from the patient's mouth.

Sunanda Dhivare-Palwankar, the head of dentistry, told AFP News that it took them seven hours to finish the operation which they conducted on Monday. They thought it would just be a simple surgery but were surprised when they uncovered "multiple pearl-like teeth" in Gavai's jaw bone.

The surgeons removed the teeth in the patient's jaw bone, but they were once again shocked to find a bigger "marble-like" structure that was difficult to extract. They had to "chisel out" the larger structure and take out the fragments one by one.

As of now, Gavai is recuperating from the operation.

The dental team believed Gavai's case may hold the record for the most denticles removed in a single case of complex odontoma. The most number of teeth removed in a similar procedure is 37, according to current literature.

The dental surgeons were able to maintain the structure of Gavai's jaw, providing assurance that would not be deformed after the healing process. A condition like this does not recur after the odontomas are removed.

Tagsodontoma, Ashik Gavai, 232 teeth