How to Remove Hyperdontia - When Do You Need an Extraction?

Hyperdontia is a dental condition that causes extra primary or permanent teeth to grow in your mouth. In a normal case scenario, people have 20 (temporary) and 32 (permanent teeth). However, those with hyperdontia have more of these number ranges.

Studies show that hyperdontia ranges between 0.1 to 3.8 percent of the US population and is more common among children and males than females.

Hyperdontia looks unsightly and can make you feel uncomfortable around people. But the good thing is that it is curable. In this guide, we have discussed how to remove hyperdontia and what causes this problem in the first place.

What Causes Hyperdontia?

Generally, adults have 32 permanent teeth in total. However, when a person suffers from hyperdontia, he/she has extra teeth around the curve. The condition usually begins during the transition phase, where your milk teeth start to replace with permanent ones.

The extra teeth, also called supernumerary teeth, resemble their surrounding teeth and erupt between or next to the front teeth. And unlike natural teeth, they are peg-shaped and referred to as ‘mesiodens’.

The cause of hyperdontia is yet to be determined. However, one thing is clear it could be related to genetics and can be found along disorders such as Ehler-Danlos syndrome or Gardner syndrome.

Hyperdontia and Other Oral Health Implications

When a person suffers from hypodontia, he/she has one or more overlapped teeth, due to which they are unable to take proper care of their oral hygiene. This increases the chances of tooth decay and gum diseases. However, the percentage of people experiencing other oral conditions due to hyperdontia is still low.

Other dental issues due to hyperdontia may include

• Malocclusion
• Tooth decay
• Gum disease
• Impacted teeth
• Overcrowding of the teeth
• Oral tumors or cysts
• Teeth fusing together.

Symptoms of Hyperdontia:

Unlike other dental conditions, hyperdontia is comparatively easier to spot. You may find an extra tooth attached to any (milk or permanent) teeth around the curve. Following are the different types of extra teeth characterized depending on their shape and location:

• Supplemental - When the extra tooth resembles the tooth it grows beside, it is called supplemental.
• Tuberculate - When the extra tooth appears barrel or tube-like, it is called tuberculate.
• Compound odontoma - When the extra tooth appears as a collection/bundle of small teeth in a cluster form, it is called compound odontoma.
• Complex odontoma - When the tissues (dental, enamel, and cementum) take the shape of a hard painless mass rarely, exceeding the tooth’s diameter, it is called complex odontoma.
• Cone-shaped - As previously said, when an extra tooth erupts, taking the shape of a cone, it is called peg or cone-shaped.

Locations of Hyperdontia:

Hyperdontia can erupt anywhere around your gums. Following are the common locations for extra teeth eruption:

• Paramolar - The extra tooth emerges in the back teeth, next to the molars.
• Dismolar - The extra tooth emerges in line with your molars instead of growing around them.
• Mesiodens - The extra tooth grows in the front part of your teeth near your incisors. This is the most common type of hyperdontia, spotted in children mostly.

When to Remove Hyperdontia?

The only known way to remove hyperdontia is through extraction. While in most cases, it doesn’t require one, it needs to be pulled out if you suffer any of the following symptoms:

• Genetic condition causing you hyperdontia
• Difficulty biting and chewing
• Discomfort due to overcrowding
• Low self-confidence due to the unappealing smile
• Unable to floss and brush your teeth properly due to overlapping

When the extra teeth affect your dental hygiene and causing a delay in growing your permanent teeth, they must be removed as soon as possible. Doing so will improve your smile and prevent other long-lasting gum and tooth diseases.

How to Remove Hyperdontia? 

• Extraction

As said previously, the best way to treat hypodontia is through extraction. However, the treatment depends on the location and appearance of the tooth. Your dentist will first take an X-ray of your mouth then he/she will decide whether you need an extraction or, if so, how the removal will take place.

• Surgical Exposure

Surgical exposure is another way to treat impacted teeth or hyperdontia, which fails to erupt into the dental arch properly. Here is what the procedure includes:

• The first step involves creating an arch-shaped space around the impacted tooth, if there is none, using sanitized tools.
• Once the space has been made, the dentist will administer numbing medication or anesthesia to desensitize the area.
• Next, incisions will be made in that space to uncover the tooth’s crown.
• Then the dentist will attach an orthodontic bracket to the newly exposed crown
• EIT (Elastic Internal Traction) is applied, forcing the impacted tooth to emerge into the dental arch properly.

Should Hyperdontia be removed?

Not in all cases. In fact, dentists don’t recommend extraction until it’s harmful or inhibiting your natural tooth growth. Some get it extracted for aesthetic reasons. That shows if it’s not detrimental to your oral health, you don’t have to get it removed.

Is Hyperdontia Serious?

Fortunately, hyperdontia doesn’t cause serious problems until it emerges in a critical position and exerts pressure on the jaw and gums, causing them to swell.

Why Do I Have Hyperdontia?

Hyperdontia may develop due to hereditary reasons. However, more research is needed in that area. The exact cause is yet to be determined.

Conclusion

Many live with hyperdontia without requiring any treatment or extraction. Others may require removing all or some extra teeth depending on their position in the dental arch. That said, it’s essential to consult a doctor when experiencing such a condition and let them know about any feelings of discomfort, swelling, or weakness to get proper treatment.