Just over 10 years ago, a 19-year-old woman met with doctors at the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli in Italy, providing them with a rare case of what's known in the medical field as gingival hirsutism.
"In 2009, we reported a case of a young woman who presented with hairs on the sulcular epithelium of the retroincisor palatal papilla," the specialists reported in their recent case study.
To translate, they found a scattering of eyelash-like hairs protruding from the soft tissues directly behind her upper front teeth.
A dig through the literature revealed just five other similar cases – all men – dating back to the 1960s.
It's impossible to know just how many have been afflicted with this condition throughout history. With so few recorded examples, doctors have a hard time even figuring out why this happens.
In this case, pathologists were quick find a potential clue. Hormone tests and ultrasounds led to a diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a reproductive condition connected to hormonal imbalances.
'Hirsutism' – or excess hair – is a common consequence of this imbalance, but such atypical growth is usually restricted to parts of the body that already sprout follicles, such as the face, torso, and limbs.
In this case, the hairs were ectopic, meaning they were growing out of place. So while the PCOS might not have been a cause, it almost certainly exacerbated the situation.
The hairs were removed surgically, and following a course of oral contraceptives to help address the imbalance of hormones, the patient returned to a mouth-hair-free life. For a while, at least.
Six years later the unnamed patient returned to the clinic. Having stopped the hormonal medication, her gingival hirsutism had returned.
This time the medical team didn't just remove the hairs; they took an opportunity to take a small section of tissue for a closer look under the microscope, finding a hair shaft pushing its way through unusually thickened tissues of her gums.
A year on and her condition had worsened, with hairs emerging from even more sites around her mouth.