Ten Fun Facts About Teeth
February 3, 2022
You use them to eat, speak, and smile, but how much do you really know about your teeth? We’ve compiled some fun facts about your pearly whites that show just how amazing they are!
· In a lifetime, the average American spends approximately 38.5 days brushing their teeth. That’s over a month of your life!
· Tooth prints are like fingerprints, each one is unique!
· The most valuable tooth belonged to Sir Isaac Newton. In 1816 one of his teeth was sold in London for $3,633, or in today’s terms $35,700. The tooth was set in a ring!
· Our first tooth emerges between 6-12 months, and as parents know all too well, teething can involve lots of drooling!
· Speaking of baby teeth, the first set of teeth is made up of 20 teeth. Our second set, or adult teeth, has 32.
· The human bite force is around 200 pounds of pressure. This might be why some people find themselves using their teeth as tools to open things, even though that is a big no-no. Please, do not do that. It’s one of the most common ways to end up in the dentist chair.
· Enamel, the outer coating of our teeth, is actually the hardest substance in the human body! 96% of enamel is minerals, and that makes it harder than bone, but it can still be damaged by metal or glass.
· Teeth, like your bones, are alive. They have their own blood supply and nerves, and a tooth can die if they are damaged.
· The longest known human tooth was pulled by a dentist in Germany in 2018 and measured a whopping 1.46 inches long! Almost three quarters of the tooth’s length was the root below the gum line.
· We have four different types of teeth in our mouths. Incisors, canines, premolars, and molars. All of them play a part in helping us cut into and grind our food.
Now that you’ve gained some teeth knowledge, you’re all ready for the next toothy trivia question you may hear! And, if you have any questions about your own teeth, our dentist office is happy to answer your call.