Chennai: G. Sadhna, a 17-year-old girl can now smile, showcasing all 28 teeth after 17 years. She was detected with Papillon Lefevre Syndrome (PLS) a rare condition at the age of four.
A team of dentists from Rajan Dental Institute successfully operated her on June 3 this year, using Zygoma (cheekbone) implantation, claiming it to be the world’s first successful treatment. At the age of 4, the skin of Sadhna’s palms and feet started becoming thick, and her milk teeth fell prematurely. At the age of nine she got a few permanent teeth but these began abruptly falling off when she was 15.
Her father consulted a doctor at Sriharikota who diagnosed this as Papillon Lefevre Syndrome in which there is a loss of teeth and the skin of the palm thickens. The girl wore dentures for 17 years and after surgery, she was given permanent artificial teeth. “Psychologically it affected me. I always had to wear dentures. I could never eat hard food,” she said.
According to Dr R. Gunaseelan, the conventional treatment for this one in million case takes one year. They tried the new method of Zygoma implantation, which is done only in four days. He added that she was the first such case in the world, he said.
