(NaturalNews) What was going on in the mouth of 17-year-old Ashik Gavai of India?

How were 232 teeth growing inside his jaw and what was causing such an abnormal flowering of teeth?

According to International Business Times, when doctors at Sir J.J. Hospital in Mumbai, India, took the boy in to have a look, they discovered a world record set of teeth blooming in the teen's jaw line. Strangely, the explosion of teeth stemmed from a single molar.

"Initially, it was not very clear what it could be and so we decided to go in for surgery," said Sunanda Dhivare-Palwankar, head of the hospital's dental department.

Seventeen-year-old Ashik Gavai had faced routine pain and swelling in the right side of his mouth for some time and didn't understand why. When the dentists took a closer look, the second molar on the lower right side of his jaw was found budding with abnormal growths. The molar had become tumor-like. The dentists at Sir J.J. went beyond the swelling and found buds of teeth of all shapes and sizes. The molar was literally blooming with multiple dozens of teeth. Upon the discovery, a seven-hour surgery commenced.

Grain to marble-sized teeth sprouting everywhere

"We started picking small teeth from the abnormal molar. These pearlies were of varying sizes, some as tiny as a grain of mustard and some almost the size of a marble. At the final count, we had a total of 232 of them. The fact that it was coming from a single molar was very unique," said Dr. Dhivare-Palwankar.

At the core of the blooming set of teeth was a rock-like formation inside the affected tooth. It was unlike anything that the dentists had ever seen. They began removing the rock-like core with a drill.

"We had to resort to the age-old, now outdated, 'chisel-mallet' procedure to break down that hard formation as it was putting immense pressures on the jaw bone and surrounding healthy teeth," explained Dr. Dhivare-Palwankar.

He called the affliction a "developmental anomaly." The anomaly was categorized as a benign tumor of the tooth and is known to medical professionals as a "complex composite odonntom."
Dr. Dhivare-Palwankar said the condition is not life-threatening but causes swelling in the face, leading to difficulty in eating and swallowing.

"We believe this is a world record, but we will carry out more research before taking any further steps in the matter," said Dr. Dhivare-Palwankar.

For pictures, visit IBTimes.co.uk.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk