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Comment by naikrovek | Hacker News Reader

Pfft that's nothing.

When I had testicular cancer, they found an entire molar in that tumor.

Apparently I had a type of cancer that just spontaneously grows parts of you inside it. I am ashamed to say that I forgot the name of this type of cancer.

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Teratoma[0]

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teratoma

So it's not at all far-fetched to grow new teeth for humans then. Just need to get it working in the right place.

It's self-evident that humans can grow teeth, since we almost all have them, and many women grow extra sets in their uteruses. The devil is in the details of growing them on demand where desired.

> many women grow extra sets in their uteruses

What.

It's a pregnancy reference. I hope.

It's technically correct, but they tend to come attached to a baby :)

That can't be right; babies are not usually born with teeth.

Well, yes and no. No, in that babies aren't born with exposed teeth in their mouth. Yes, in that babies have two sets of teeth in their skull when born.

Adult teeth start forming at 20 weeks in the womb. Babies are born with two full sets of teeth, they're just not quite finished yet and are buried under the gums and in the jaw bone. There are images of child skulls with the front of the bone removed to show all of the teeth packed into the bone underneath. It's actually pretty unsettling.

Another reference to teratomas, which are often found during ultrasounds during pregnancy[0]

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teratoma

Got the same reaction. Found this: https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/researchers-in-museums/2013/03/04/pu...

Well that holds even more wat material.

> [Māui] proposes to kill Hine-nui-te-pō by entering her vagina and exiting through her mouth whilst she is sleeping

As others pointed out, the statement "many women grow extra sets in their uteruses" is misleading at best.

The kind interpretation is that you are thinking of Teratoma (mentioned above). The less kind is that you are thinking of that cheesy black-comedy horror movie from the 2000s.

Women are amazing! They’re basically people factories.

my father had 3 sets of teeth

Root of the word means "monster", very appropiate. I guess it got that name because it was associated malformed fetuses since it appeared often in ovaries.

That Wikipedia article had a link to a case where a fully-formed eye had developed. Wow.

Both referenced cases of that are in fetuses though.

interesting that aligns with some of the theories brought up in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRt7LjqJ45k

The idea that our cells forget what they are supposed to be.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_cell

Did you get to keep the molar?

Wow. I had heard of teratomic tumors growing hair or teeth in women around the ovaries, but never in men.

Teratoma?

That's amazing. Put it under your pillow and let us know what the tooth fairy thinks of that little gem.

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