20 Fascinating Facts About Teeth

Our teeth play such an important role in our lives. They aid in the chewing and digestion of food, the clarity with which we speak, and the shape of our faces. A smile can also help you in your daily life. It can boost our self-esteem and also influences our social lives, careers, and relationships.

1. Tooth decay has been around for thousands of years and in ancient times was believed to have been caused by a ‘tooth worm,’ which is, however, a myth.
2. Among the first known ‘dentists’ of the world were the Etruscans. In 700 BC, they carved false teeth from the teeth of various mammals and produced partial bridgework good enough to eat with.
3. Baby teeth or milk teeth are the first set of teeth in our lifetime and is a set of 20 teeth. The second set is the permanent teeth and is a set of 32 teeth.
4. There is a technique to grow teeth from the dental stem cells and use them to grow complete teeth. The technique is called tooth farming, and so far, only parts of a tooth have grown, but farmed teeth might replace dentures in the near future.
5. Teeth are the only part of our body that cannot repair itself.
6. We have four different types of teeth, which are incisors, canine, premolars, and molars.
7. Tooth decay is the most common disease.
8. The enamel in our teeth is the hardest substance in our body.
9. It takes 6 hours for the plaque to form again after brushing our teeth.
10. The chances of getting a cavity are higher if candy is eaten slowly throughout the day compared to eating it all at once and then brushing your teeth.
11. In terms of hardness, human teeth can be compared to rocks.
12. Human teeth are almost as hard as rocks.
13. Our teeth start growing in the womb after three months of pregnancy.
14. If we calculate the brushing time in a lifetime, it would be 38 days.
15. Jaw muscles can provide about 200 pounds(90.7 kg) of force to the molars and 55 pounds (25 kg) to the incisors.
16. A person who is a hard smoker and smokes a pack of cigarettes a day can lose two teeth every ten years.
17. Teeth are unique as fingerprints, and no one has the same set of teeth.
18. One-third of the tooth stays hidden underneath the gums. These are the roots that bind the teeth to the jaws.
19. In the month of September 2018, the biggest tooth was extracted by a dentist in Germany. It was a canine tooth and measured 37mm.
20. Over 300 bacteria are found on the plaque of our teeth.