What are the symptoms of hyperdontia?
Although rare, hyperdontia causes abnormal growth of teeth near adults’ usual source of teeth. It’s harmless but causes discomfort and other issues.
Shapes of extra teeth include:
Conical Shaped: The tooth looks like canine. Wide at base and pointed at the peak.
Supplemental Shaped: The tooth looks just like the ones near to it.
Compound odontoma: The tooth is made up of several small, tooth-like growths near each other.
Tuberculate Shape: The tooth has a tube or barrel-like shape.
Complex odontoma: In this case, there is no tooth but there is a conspicuous outgrowth of tissues that resembles a tooth.
Places where such conditions are prevalent.
Paramolar Region: It grows an extra tooth at the back of its mouth, next to one of its molars.
Distomolar Region: An extra tooth grows in line with your other molars instead of around them.
Mesiodens Region: An extra tooth grows behind or around the incisors, the four flat teeth at the front of the mouth used for biting. This is the most common type of extra teeth in people with hyperdontia.
Hyperdontia is not usually painful. However, sometimes the extra teeth can put pressure on your jaw and gums, making them swollen and painful. Crowding caused by hyperdontia can also make your permanent teeth look crooked.
What causes hyperdontia?
The exact cause of hyperdontia is unknown, but it appears to be linked to several hereditary disorders, including:
Gardner Syndrome: A rare genetic disorder that causes skin cysts, growths on the skull, and growths on the colon.
Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome: An inherited condition that causes loose joints that dislocate easily, skin that bruises easily, scoliosis, and aching muscles and joints.
Fabry’s disease: This syndrome causes an inability to sweat, pain in the hands and feet, a red or blue rash, and abdominal pain.
Cleft lips and gums: These birth defects cause an opening in the roof of your mouth or upper lip, problems eating or speaking, and ear infections.
Cleidocranial Dysplasia: This condition causes abnormal development of the skull and collarbone.]
How is hyperdontia diagnosed?
Hyperdontia is easy to diagnose when the extra teeth are already ingrown. grown, they will still show up on a routine dental X-ray. Your dentist may also use a CT scan to get a more detailed view of your mouth, jaw, and teeth.
How is hyperdontia treated?
While some cases of hyperdontia do not require treatment, others require the extraction of additional teeth. Your dentist may also recommend removing your extra teeth if:
You have an underlying genetic condition that’s causing your extra teeth
- You can’t chew properly or the extra teeth Teeth cut into your mouth when chewing
- Feel pain or discomfort due to crowding
- Have difficulty brushing or flossing due to having
extra teeth, resulting in tooth decay or gum disease may - You may feel uncomfortable or embarrassed about the appearance of the extra teeth.
- If the extra teeth begin to interfere with your dental hygiene or other teeth it will permanently cause tooth eruption, and so it is best to remove them as soon as possible. This will help prevent long lasting effects like gum disease or crooked teeth.
- If extra teeth are causing only mild discomfort, your dentist may recommend taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen. (Advil, Motrin) for pain.
Living with Hyperdontia
Many people with Hyperdontia do not require treatment. Others may need to extract some or all of the extra teeth to avoid other problems. Be sure to tell your doctor about any pain, discomfort, swelling, or weakness in your mouth if you have hyperdontia.
If the supernumerary teeth do not pose serious complications or cause pain, the dentist informs the patient that for the mild case of hyperdontia, no specific treatment is required.
As long as the remaining teeth are not an obstacle presenting when chewing food or causing significant discomfort in the mouth, near teeth, jaw, and gums, hyperdontia does not require advanced corrective medical procedures. But in most cases of hyperdontia, a Dentist
advises the patient to have the extra teeth removed.
This is because the random and misaligned clenching of the teeth causes problems in chewing and eating brittle foods, makes it difficult to clean the areas between the teeth due to overgrowths that can lead to gum disease, crooked teeth, and massive pain and discomfort. In addition, hyperdontia can also impede the protrusion and growth of the permanent teeth from the correct region along the dental arches due to too many abnormal tooth buds that are uneven.
Dentists also advise the patient to extract additional teeth if the cause of the hyperdontia is a genetic abnormality. In this way, extra teeth that occur accidentally and cause crowding in the oral cavity are eliminated, relieving pain and discomfort associated with hyperdontia and facilitating food chewing and patient jaw movement.