A Mouthful of Interesting Facts About Teeth

Teeth are such a great part of the body! Usually, we write our blog posts about caring for teeth, bite problems, orthodontic treatments, living with braces, and similar topics. Just to change things up a little, this time we thought we’d celebrate these wee white wonders by sharing some interesting facts about teeth.

How many of these facts about teeth did you already know?

Fun Facts About Teeth

• Kids typically have 20 “baby” teeth—10 on top, 10 on the bottom—and adults typically have 32 permanent teeth. We’re talking humans here, of course.

• The 32 adult teeth include four different types of teeth: 8 incisors, 4 canines, 8 premolars, and 12 molars.

• Teeth are made of enamel, which is the hardest substance in your body—even stronger than bone!

• But enamel does have one weakness—it can’t heal! In fact, it’s the only part of your body that can’t. That’s one reason it’s so important to take good care of your teeth.

• Yellowing of the teeth is often not due to staining, contrary to popular belief. While teeth can become stained, yellowing is usually because the enamel is wearing thinner, and more of the underlying dentin is showing through.

• Your bite and tooth prints are as unique as your fingerprints. That’s why you always hear about forensics teams on TV using dental records to identify bodies. Even identical twins don’t have identical teeth!

• Only about two-thirds of each tooth is visible; approximately one-third is below the gums.

• The average American spends about 38 days of their life brushing their teeth.

• Plaque on teeth typically contains more than 300 different bacteria species. Just think about that next time you feel too lazy to brush and use mouthwash!

• Tooth decay is the second most prevalent disease affecting people, following only the common cold. And it’s the most common chronic disease in children.

• About 8 in 10 Americans have a cavity by the time they’re 17 years old.

• There are plenty of foods that are good for your teeth that you can eat with braces!

• And speaking of braces, they’ve been around a lot longer than you might think. Archaeologists have even discovered ancient Egyptian mummies wearing a rudimentary form of braces! The ancient Egyptians used toothbrushes, too!