Hyperdontia Causes Symptoms Prevention And Treatment

Hyperdontia - A Brief Overview 

Teeth are a crucial component of the human body. They help in the daily functioning of chewing, tearing and breaking the food into smaller to simplify digestion. They are composed mainly of calcium and are divided into four types namely Incisors, Canines, Premolars and Molars all with their respective purposes. 

Not only for eating purposes, but teeth also play an essential role in the appearance of a person. The teeth add to the beauty of a person. Hence it becomes imperative to maintain the hygiene of our teeth. Keeping your teeth and gums clean as well as healthy is of utmost importance. But certain conditions are out of our control. 

Hyperdontia is one such condition that affects a person where they have extra (supernumerary) teeth than usual. It is relatively common and is seen in 4% of the population, with males twice as likely to have it over females. 

What Is Hyperdontia? 

To put it simply, Hyperdontia is a condition where a person has extra some teeth than usual. They are called as supernumerary teeth. These extra teeth usually grow in dental arches. In typical cases, an adult has about 32 teeth but in instances of Hyperdontia a couple of extra teeth and sometimes even overcrowded teeth. 

Hyperdontia Or Extra Teeth

The cause for Hyperdontia is not specific, but certain conditions and genetic factors can increase its likelihood. There is no particular age bar, gender or race specific to this disorder. 

Causes Of Hyperdontia 

People are not exactly sure of what causes Hyperdontia, and they can't pinpoint to a particular reason. Mostly it is related to genetic causes. Some hereditary conditions which cause Hyperdontia are as follows: 

• Gardner's Syndrome: It is a form of a rare genetic disorder where it leads to bony growths also soft tissue tumors such as epidermoid cysts and in final stages leads to colon cancer. 
• Fabry Disease: Also another rare genetic disease. It is linked with the X chromosome. Fabry disease is a lysosomal storage disease. 
• Cleidocranial dysplasia: It affects the development of the teeth signs and symbols can be different within the same family. 

Children usually have milk teeth which fall off in due course as they grow up. But in some cases, they remain. The eruption of supernumerary teeth disrupts the formation of teeth next to it. Any extra teeth on the natural gum line will lead to overcrowding and cause the teeth to grow unexpectedly. 

Symptoms Of Hyperdontia 

The primary symptoms of Hyperdontia is an excess growth of teeth on the jaw region causing overcrowding. The different symptoms are characterized based on the types of the tooth affected. They are as follows: 

• Supplemental: As the name suggests it grows as a supplement to the central tooth 
• Compound odontoma: This condition has teeth made of small, malformed which are like shoots of edges. 
• Tuberculate: The extra teeth grow like a tuber, root type of structure. 
• Complex odontoma: Has a group of teeth growing in awkward and different shapes. 
• Conical, or peg-shaped: Looks like a cone and is shaped like it and grows offshoot. 

Hyperdontia has additional growth of teeth on different parts of teeth. It is not fatal in maximum cases but causes overcrowding. Genetics and also a few environmental factors may also play a role in why a person has Hyperdontia. 

Prevention Of Hyperdontia 

To put it in simple terms, since the reason why Hyperdontia occurs is not sufficiently transparent. Thus, there are not many preventive measures that one can take to prevent Hyperdontia. Simple dental hygiene should be followed, and teeth should be taken care of. 

Treatment Of Hyperdontia 

After Treatment

Treatment usually involves removal of supernumerary teeth to improve the look of the patient. Here is how it is done: 

• The most popular treatment is to extract the extra teeth. Using local anesthetic the teeth are removed. 
• In some cases, the supernumerary teeth fuse with the central teeth. In these cases, a type of root canal surgery is performed. 
• Due to excess growth, the orientation of primary teeth will be shifted, so orthodontic measures like braces are used to get primary teeth in place.
• In some cases, the doctor adopts the wait and watch approach examining the growth of the supernumerary teeth with X-ray and going forward with surgery only if it is critical. 

Important Article: 10 Tips To Stop Bleeding Gums

It is a tooth disease which is uncomfortable and causes a problem for the healthy growth of teeth. Dr. Brady Bates, a famous Spokane Dentist, recommends that regular checkup is significant to take care of such conditions.