It’s easy to take teeth for granted. After all, we carry them around in our mouths every day and except for when we’re eating or chewing gum—or have a loose tooth!—we probably don’t think about them often. Teeth are kind of amazing, though, and if you need proof, consider these seven crazy facts!
1. The number of teeth people have over their lifetimes changes.
Most babies are born without any visible teeth, just shiny pink gums. Once their teeth start to come in, typically between six and twelve months, they’ll grow twenty deciduous primary teeth, or what we call “baby teeth.” These teeth are impermanent. Kids begin to lose them anywhere around four to seven years old. Baby teeth are replaced by permanent adult teeth—thirty-two of them usually, but sometimes thirty-four. Those who develop thirty-four teeth have an extra set of molars known as wisdom teeth. Wisdom teeth tend to appear in a person’s late teens or early twenties.
2. Before plastic toothbrushes, people used twigs!
Ancient humans cleaned their teeth by chewing on bark or sticks, feathers, fish bones, or porcupine quills. The Chinese invented the first bristled toothbrush in the late 1400s and it was made of hog hair.
The first toothbrushes were made of hog hair.
3. Teeth are even harder than bones.
While we can still see teeth on skeletons, teeth aren’t bones. They’re actually even harder than bones. Covered in a layer of enamel (an extremely hard substance made of the mineral calcium phosphate), teeth are more like tools for biting and grinding.
While we can still see teeth on skeletons, teeth aren’t bones.
4. No one else has your teeth.
I mean, obviously no one else has the teeth that are in your mouth—they’re yours! But no one else has teeth that are like your teeth, either. That’s because each person’s teeth have a unique shape and structure that make them usable for identification purposes, like your fingerprints.
5. There are four main types of teeth.
You’ve probably heard of canine teeth. They’re the sharp ones that resemble a dog’s (canine’s) teeth, and the ones Dracula uses to drink blood. But there are three more types of teeth: incisors (your front top and bottom teeth), premolars (behind the canines), and molars (the furthest back and most common type of tooth, since most people have twelve of them).
Human canine teeth are named after dog teeth.
6. Humans love their tooth superstitions.
Medieval Germans believed you could cure a toothache by kissing a donkey. How’s that for romantic?
Once upon a time, kissing a donkey cured tooth pain.
7. Disease, trauma are leading causes of tooth loss.
Periodontal disease, like gum disease, is the number one cause of tooth loss among adults. Among kids, it’s physical injuries. About three million teeth go missing every year because of sports accidents.
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Now that you and your kids know seven crazy facts about teeth, you’re ready to join my main character Samantha as she goes on a journey to find her missing tooth!
