DUBAI: An Indian couple are claiming their baby boy was born with seven teeth, shocking local doctors who believe this could be a world first.
Prayan Sharma was born on June 30 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, western India, but his parents Nikita Sharma, 31 and Harish Sharma, 31, say they did not notice until their son was 10-days-old.
“As soon as my son was born he was moved to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) because he had an infection so my wife wasn’t able to breastfeed him at first,” explained the father, who works at a local software company.
“When he was eventually re-united with my wife and she tried to breastfeed him, she noticed something in his mouth. We were completely surprised. We never knew a baby could be born with one tooth never mind seven teeth.”
The National Institute of Health told UK daily The Metro that babies born with teeth is as rare as one in 3,000 births. The teeth are called natal teeth.
Malnutrition during pregnancy can be a possible risk factor according to health experts, in addition to certain medical or genetic conditions.
The parents spoke to a pediatric dentist after the mother struggled to breastfeed and also noticed that the teeth had loosened.
Dr. Meet Ramatri, a pediatric dentist said: “This is a first of its kind it’s rare that babies are born with one tooth but never seven teeth. The teeth had to be removed to avoid any risk to the baby swallowing or choking on them.”
The doctor added that the procedure was carried out with the baby under local anesthesia because he was too young for “regular anesthesia.”
The medical team carried out two operations over three days on two separate visits.
