Image via Twitter / Eddie Risi
A dentist in India recently extracted what is thought to be the world’s longest tooth: a canine measuring 39 millimetres in length.Dr Saurabh Srivastava, who runs a private clinic in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, claims to have pulled the tooth from the mouth of a 20-year-old engineering student, who came to him “with aesthetic concerns” and because he “had a lot of problems due to big teeth”, according to the Times of India.
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Upon discovering that the patient had two “giant” maxillary canines, Dr Srivastava recommended he undergo orthodontic treatment. When the patient refused, he took it upon himself to remove what ended up being a monstrous set of chompers.“To everyone’s surprise, the first tooth measured around 39 millimetres,” he said. “The second tooth which was removed was about 36 millimetres long.”Dr Srivastava further explained that the maximum size for a “normal” canine is typically 28 to 30 millimetres. On the advice of a colleague, he’s now hoping to submit his claim to the Guinness Book of World Records."After watching the unbelievably long tooth, I measured it along with the curvature and it seemed to be the longest,” Khargone district hospital resident medical officer Dr Dilip Septa told Times of India. “Then I advised him to apply for the Guinness Book Of World Records.”
The current record for the extraction of the longest known human tooth belongs to Dr Max Lukas, a dentist from the German city of Offenbach, who pulled the 37.2 millimetre chunk of enamel from the mouth of a patient in 2018. In that case, almost three-quarters of the tooth's length was the root below the gum line, according to Deutsche Welle.Dr Amit Rawat, a registrar from the Dental Council Of India, Madhya Pradesh, congratulated Dr Srivastava on successfully extracting the 39 millimetre canine without breaking it. The patient is reported to have made a full recovery since the extraction.Follow Gavin on Twitter or Instagram