Teeth

Teeth
Facts about teeth:
*Grind food
*Outside covering - enamel, body’s hardest substance
*Inside the enamel - dentine, hard as the hardest bone, hard protective cover
*Can be eaten away by bacteria in the mouth, starches and sugar foods - need to
clean teeth well after eating sugary foods
*Fluoride is added to drinking water - protects teeth from decay
*Everyone has 2 sets of teeth - primary, secondary
-First set is baby teeth - 20 teeth, start at 8 months to 2 1/2 years
-Age 6 baby teeth replaced by 32 adult permanent teeth
*Teeth - roots - sockets - jaw bone - gums
*Heart of tooth is blood vessels and nerves, dentine (sensitive skin), hard enamel
*Cementum - hard layer covering root
*Crown - part of tooth above gum
*Root- embedded in gum
*Jaw bone - mandible
Kinds of Teeth:
*Molars- 2 or 3 pair on each side, big, strong at the back of the mouth, flat tops
with ridges, cut, crush, grind and soften foods
-Wisdom teeth - 3rd pair of molars, last to grow, some people do not have
*Premolars - 2 pair on each side, 2 edges, flat, largest teeth, grind and crush foods
*Canines - 1 pair on each side, big, pointed, behind front teeth, tear food
*Incisors - 2 pair on each side, flat front, chisel-shaped, sharp edges to cut food