A seven-year-old boy has left doctors stunned after they discovered the wild reason for his swollen cheek.
The boy from India, called Ravindran, had been complaining of swelling on the right side of his lower jaw since the age of three. The swelling had baffled his parents who suspected he had the symptoms of tooth decay, The Times of India reports.
![A five-year-old in India who complained of pain in his jaw was found to have a bizarre 'sack' growing in his mouth. Photo / Saveetha Dental College and Hospital](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/L4HKR2MFSAKWTTYI4T4ZUHGECQ.png?auth=7392719d72634c3b1d82afd2e971d165e0ab7a77d59c9ecdaee960ce36b64ecf&width=16&height=8&quality=70&smart=true)
But a medical investigation by surgeons revealed the swelling was due to the presence of a large growth containing multiple hard structures within the jaw, news.com.au reports.
Brace yourself if you're squeamish guys, as that "sack" of hard stuff turned out to be teeth. A whole bunch of them — 526 to be exact.
Doctors said this was a unique medical case and a first-of-its-kind that occurred when Ravindran developed the rare condition "compound composite odontoma".
![Inside were hundreds of extra teeth, 526 to be precise. Photo / Saveetha Dental College and Hospital](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/2YJT24LGJANMH6JCNQYCLMEYYU.png?auth=5d6a25e9ae2316015b035d19a6432a36b29dd661ffef6bf5774061717525372d&width=16&height=8&quality=70&smart=true)
After uncovering what was going on in his mouth, doctors operated in a procedure that took five hours at Chennai's Saveetha Dental College and Hospital.
"We opened up the jaw after administering general anaesthesia and saw a sack inside it," Dr Senthilnathan, who led the operation, told the publication.
"The sack, weighing about 200g, was carefully removed."
Dr Pratibha Ramani, who was involved in the procedure, told The Times of India: "The teeth were in different sizes that varied between 0.1mm to 15mm.
"They looked like pearls in an oyster. Even the smallest piece had a crown, root and an enamel coating like a tooth."
![The almost unbelievable story has since gone viral. Photo / Saveetha Dental College and Hospital](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/6VGD3FQQDYIYA4WKKZ2PGE7BMQ.png?auth=989645f4bba6001c4be51570408eb4571d2c625de2b866b7bd9b90ab45459ceb&width=16&height=8&quality=70&smart=true)
The boy's father, named only as Parbhu, said his son's jaw started to swell when he was three.
But he claimed his son "could not sit still" for tests at a local hospital, prompting them to leave and not return.
The doctors added the chance of the teeth growing back was low, but they couldn't rule it out.
Photos of the 526 teeth lined up during the operation went viral, with people in disbelief over the bizarre find.