If you’re like most people, you think about your teeth two times a day, max (usually something like Ughh I forgot to brush my teeth again…). But your teeth are actually a fascinating part of your body. Here are a few cool things you may not have known.
- Tooth enamel is the hardest surface in the body. It’s true! Unfortunately, it’s pretty easy for tooth enamel to wear off anyway. Acidic and/or sugary foods are particularly harsh on tooth enamel (looking at you, Mountain Dew).
- What do teeth and fingerprints have in common? They are two features that are different in every individual; that is, no two people can have the same teeth, just like no two people have the same fingerprint.
- Overall health issues can be directly connected to dental health. These can include problems like heart disease and diabetes. There’s even a connection between pregnancy and gingivitis! (As if there aren’t enough other weird things going on in your body when you’re pregnant.)
- Humans have four different types of teeth: incisors, canines, premolars, and molars. Each type exists for a different purpose and are found in specific places in the mouth according to each purpose. For example, you’d never find a human with molars in the front of their mouth. Each type of tooth is an amazing product of evolution.
- The total time a person spends brushing their teeth is about 38 days in one lifetime. That sure is a lot of brushing!
- You may have heard that nasty fact about toothbrushes containing more bacteria than a toilet bowl…Well, we won’t go into the details on that. It is true that your toothbrush harbors a lot of bacteria, but only because the purpose of a toothbrush is to remove that bacteria from your body. The best way to make sure that your toothbrush doesn’t work against you is to rinse it with hot water, keep it dry, and replace it at least once every three months.
- Your teeth can become yellowed or discolored very easily with continued exposure to certain foods and drinks (still lookin’ at you, Mountain Dew, but now you’re being joined by Coffee). Americans spend about $1.4 billion each year on whitening products and whitening cosmetic dental procedures in an attempt to fix their yellow teeth.
Maybe these facts intrigued you. Maybe they grossed you out a little. Maybe you just realized that you haven’t seen a dentist in years, and now you’re frantically Googling “How to find a dentist.” It’s important to take care of your teeth since you only get two sets. Although you can’t grow more new teeth if the second set is ruined (or completely gone), there are many cosmetic dental procedures to restore teeth or replace them entirely. These procedures are offered at many different dental clinics around the country and your local dentist may even be able to offer some cosmetic dental services.
Your teeth have been ignored for far too long, and something that resilient and important doesn’t deserve to be forgotten. More like this article.
