Normal adult humans have 32 teeth. Rarely, someone has a condition called hyperdontia where they have more than 32. This happens with around 1-2% of the population.

Sometimes, those with hyperdontia barely even notice the difference. This is common when someone has just one or two extra teeth. In fact, they may not even notice until their dentist tells them about their abnormality.

As long as it isn’t causing any issues, the person with extra teeth can live normally without taking any action at all.

Other times, hyperdontia can cause serious issues. This is most common when the person has a large number of extra teeth. Depending on where they come in, the extra teeth may cause jaw pain, over-crowding, difficulty with brushing or flossing, cosmetic issues, and more.

Even in more extreme cases, the patient might not know there is a problem because their extra teeth have not yet fully emerged. That was the case with a 2011 medical incident where a young lady who was 11 years old went to the dentist. When the dentist took some X-rays, they discovered that she had 81 teeth. That included all but two of her baby teeth, all of her normal adult teeth, and nearly an entire set of additional adult teeth.

Most of these teeth had not yet emerged, so the patient and her family didn’t notice. In most cases like this, the extra teeth will be surgically removed so that they do not cause problems down the road. Usually, orthodontics will also be necessary to ensure that the teeth she can keep will be positioned properly.

There is no single cause of this condition. It is associated with several different hereditary conditions such as cleidocranial dysplasia, Fabry disease, cleft palate, Gardner’s syndrome, and more.

For most people, it is not necessary to look into why they have extra teeth, especially if it is only one or two extra. Since they can live their lives normally, there is no reason to do costly and time-consuming genetic testing or look for other triggers.

Whatever the cause, it is an interesting condition, and in more severe cases, it can be very impactful. If you have hyperdontia, the best thing to do is to speak with your dentist to determine what, if any, treatment is necessary.

Having that many teeth is unmanageable.

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