A 9-year old boy with Hyperdontia has around 300 teeth

You know how bad it is when you start getting your third molar and if it is impacted or stuck in your jaw because of lack of space it is a nightmare. Now imagine having around 300 such teeth in your jaw, a 9-year old boy from Barangay Looc, Dumanjug, Cebu named Johncris Carl Quirante is suffering from hyperdontia a rare condition seen with supernumerary teeth.

There are many causes leading to Hyperdontia like Gardner’s syndrome, Apert syndrome, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Sturge-Weber syndrome and Cleidocranial dysostosis. The number of supernumerary teeth also varies from few to many hundreds like in this case where almost 300 teeth are seen in X-ray.

Carl has recently undergone treatment and close to 40 supernumerary teeth have been extracted which lead to pyogenic granuloma treatment. All the 300 teeth were not removed and close to seven operations are being planned to extract the supernumerary teeth.

Extensive treatment planning should be done to make sure that after extracting the supernumerary teeth the Mandibular Jaw does not loose strength leading to fracture of the jaw. Hyperdontia results from development of excess dental lamina and additional tooth germ formation. It is known to be hereditary with autosomal dominant trait.

The treatment options for supernumerary teeth vary with the number and location of teeth. Most common single supernumerary teeth are Mesiodens, Paramolar, Distomolar or Distodens.