How did teeth evolve?

There are so many activities that our teeth help us to do like- grinding, chewing, tearing, and biting etc. like a mixer grinder do. We eat food happily just because of our teeth and its perfect structure and its toughness.

Did you ever try to find out how actually our teeth grow? Because I did and that’s why here I am here to share this scientific concept of teeth evolving with you.

A grown-up person or adults have 32 teeth and babies have 20 teeth. A kid also has 20 teeth in his/her mouth; these are called baby teeth or milk teeth.

There are many questions about how teeth get evolved? How many types of teeth are there? What duties do they hold?

Let’s start with the very first question-

How did teeth evolve?

Most of the babies when born they don’t have any teeth to show. Our baby teeth are already growing even before we are born. But our first baby tooth doesn’t come out of its gum until we are around 6 or 7months. As the time passes, most of us when becomes 3 years old, all our baby teeth just start to show and come into our mouth. These baby teeth are also called as primary teeth or milk teeth.

Teeth are hard as well as tough. The tissue that completely seals the sides of a tooth is called gum. Teeth are tightly fixed to the jaw bones.

There are three main layers of a tooth. The three layers are- enamel, dentin and the last living layer is pulp. Enamel is the hardest material in the body. Enamel is entirely made up of calcium phosphate. Dentin is just below the enamel. Dentine is tough layer partly made up of organic fibers, making it flexible.

This structure is created by two cells- ameloblasts that secrete or cover enamel and the odontoblasts that cover dentin. They form teeth. Odontoblasts move inward while ameloblasts move outwards. Ameloblasts move outward until they hit the end or the surface. This process produces long and thin strands of enamel. Those strands are very very tiny and about 60nanometres in diameter. They form the shield the layer of enamel.

We are very fortunate that our enamel cannot be destroyed easily because all the cells that developed enamel are lost after making it. Our teeth are supported by nerve and blood vessels that are in the pulp or make way to the pulp. This nerve allows us to feel hot and cold. A video is attached below that will help you to understand this process more clearly.

The crown part is called the tooth.

What are the four main types of teeth and their functions?

There are basically 5 types of teeth and every tooth has a different job to perform.

1. Incisors– 4 tooth on top and 4 tooth at the bottom. There work is to cut or bite food. In this way we have 8 incisors.
2. Canine teeth– canine work is to tear the food items. Canine is just next to incisors 1 on each side, 2 on top and 2 at the bottom. There are total 4 canine teeth.
3. Premolar teeth– next to canine 2 tooth are premolar teeth. Their main job is to grind the food. They make the food pieces smaller in size. 2 on each side, 4 on the bottom and 4 at the top. Total 8 premolars.
4. Molars teeth– they are also known as chewing teeth. Their work is to chew the food in order to convert it into a smooth paste so that we can swallow the food easily and it reaches to stomach without any disturbance. 4 in bottom and 4 at top so total 8 molars are there.

The last teeth after molars are called wisdom teeth. It comes at the age of 25 approximately. Their work is not so effective in comparison to other teeth and an only sign that you have grown up. One each on both sides. So, 2 on top and 2 at the bottom. Total 4 wisdom teeth.

Interesting Facts about Teeth

• 50% of people say that the smile is the first thing they notice about someone. So keep your teeth clean and shining.
• A human child basically loses their tooth at the age of 6 or 7.
• Shark gets new sets of teeth every two weeks.
• Humans have 2 sets of teeth in their entire lifetime baby teeth and the permanent teeth. When baby teeth sheds and permanent teeth come make sure to take good care of them.
• 1/3^rd of the tooth is underneath the gum, so only 2/3^rd is visible.