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teeth Help Animal Cutting and chewing food. Meat-eating carnivores have sharp teeth to trap their prey, while herbivores have flat teeth to grind their plant-based food.
Some animals also use their pearly whites for special purposes such as digging or fighting. Tusks, like the ones you see in elephants, walruses and warthogs, are a special type of teeth – they grow continuously for as long as the animal lives.
Over time, no matter what you use them for, teeth wear down. If you have a rodent, like a beaver or a rat, this is good news. Because their teeth never stop growing, rodents rely on gnawing and biting to keep their teeth from growing so long that they cause problems.
Some animals cope with wear and tear by constantly growing new teeth as their old teeth fall out. For example, what are sharks and crocodiles Scientist Call it a polyphyodont: They can grow an almost infinite set of teeth.
Like most mammals, human beings Dipyodonts are: We have two sets of teeth – baby teeth and adult teeth. The technical term for our baby teeth is deciduous teeth because they fall out in the same way that deciduous leaves fall from trees in autumn.
we are dentist Joe focuses on treating children and is an anthropologist who studies how humans’ teeth and faces grow. We are both passionate about teeth and oral health care, and love thinking and learning about teeth. How did the two sets become standards for humans?
How do human teeth develop?
Most people are born without teeth showing in their mouth, even though your baby’s teeth begin developing before you are born. When your age is between 6 to 8 months, baby teeth usually start piercing the gums. Sometimes when the dentist takes X-rays to check for cavities or other problems, they can see adult teeth growing within the gums.
Baby teeth are relatively small because they need to fit the small faces of infants and young children. As you age and your face grows, there is room in your mouth for more and larger teeth. Teeth have different shapes and sizes, depending on their purpose. Human front teeth are good at gnawing things and tearing pieces of food. Your back teeth are good at chewing food into smaller pieces before swallowing.
Most children lose their first baby tooth around the age of 5 to 6, and the process continues slowly until you are between 10 and 12 years old and all 20 of your original molars have fallen out.
During the same time, your adult, or permanent, teeth slowly take their place in your mouth. They are larger than your milk teeth and can help you chew more food at once. Ultimately you will have a set of 28, with capacity for four more wisdom teeth at the back. Some people never grow wisdom teeth naturally, some people have wisdom teeth that don’t fit in their jaws and need to be removed, and some people have big, wide smiles with 32 teeth on their faces.
So, getting two sets of teeth means that your teeth fit the shape of your face as you grow, and helps ensure that you can chew food throughout your life.
Milk teeth require gentle care
You might be thinking that if baby teeth are just about to fall out, they can’t be that important. But it is not true.
If you were a shark, every time you got too many cavities in your teeth or lost a tooth, you would just grow a new shark and keep chewing. But unlike sharks or crocodiles or even manatees, we humans only get two pairs of teeth. By taking care of your baby teeth, you can keep them healthy and ensure they stay where they belong until they are ready to fall out.
If you don’t take care of your milk teeth, they may develop a lot of cavities. If cavities become very large or the tooth becomes infected, they may need to be removed by a dentist. Not only is the process no fun, but removing baby teeth too early can cause problems for your adult teeth.
You won’t be able to place enough space for your adult teeth — that is, what dentists call “eruption” — in the right places. This problem occurs partly because other teeth around where the baby tooth was will shift and move into the space where your adult tooth should be. Teeth may become stuck in the jaw and not erupt, or your teeth may become crowded in your mouth. If there is a mismatch between the shape of your teeth and the shape of your jaw, an orthodontist can fit braces to reposition your teeth so they all fit.
About the authors
Christina Nichols is Associate Professor of Orthodontics and Anthropology and David Avenatti is Associate Professor of Pediatric Dentistry at the University of Illinois Chicago. This article is republished from Conversation Under Creative Commons license. read the original article,
What is the future of teeth?
Because people can live long lives, 70 or 80 years or more, many people still survive despite doing their best to take care of their teeth. While there are plenty of options for artificial teeth — like removable dentures or even dental implants, which are artificial teeth that snap into your jaw — it’s not the same as natural teeth.
If you break a bone, it heals because you can grow new bone to replace the broken part. Scientists call this process fracture healing. Human teeth are not bone and, unfortunately, do not heal on their own. anti You bonesWhile they are made mostly of a structural protein that your body calls collagen, your teeth are made mainly of calcium-rich minerals like hydroxyapatite. In some ways, teeth are closer to being like hard stone than living bones.
Regenerative dentistry is the study of how teeth grow and develop, with the goal of ultimately designing new ways to repair and replace our teeth. Scientists are working hard to find ways to help grow new teeth or regenerate existing teeth. They are learning about the environment and materials needed to grow new teeth.
For now, the best thing you can do is take good care of your teeth and keep the gums and bones that support them healthy. Brush your teeth twice a day with fluoride toothpaste and floss once a day. Try to limit sweet, sticky foods and drinks – a good diet keeps not only your teeth, but your entire body healthy. Visit the dentist regularly and protect your teeth from injury.
Being kind to your teeth now can help your future self have a beautiful, healthy smile.