Fun Dental Trivia
DID YOU KNOW?
Teeth can tell stories about you.
Teeth can tell a great deal about us just by examining our teeth. Our teeth reveal how old we are, what we eat and drink — even where on Earth we may have lived? Our teeth also carry significant clues about our overall health, including periods of stress or illness we’ve endured. In short, teeth are a lasting record of our personal history.
Every tooth is unique.
Whether we’re talking about the 20 “baby teeth” that serve us in childhood or the 32 permanent teeth we have in our adult years, no two teeth are exactly the same shape and size. Each tooth in your mouth has its own unique profile, and teeth also vary widely from person to person. So your smile really is a true mark of your individuality!
Toothbrush history
The modern toothbrush was not developed until the 1700s. A man from England named William Addis attached boars’ bristles to a bone handle, creating a toothbrush that was actually mass-produced. Brushes with nylon bristles and ergonomic handles were developed in the 1930s. Eighty years later, these products seem primitive compared to toothbrushes such as the Colgate® Slim Soft™, which features thin bristles for an even deeper clean.
Infections
Tooth decay is actually classified as an infectious disease because it is caused by a particular strain of bacteria passed between multiple people.
Future dental science
Teeth contain stem cells. In fact, according to SingularityHUB, some researchers are using dental stem cells to regrow human teeth. If successful, this technology would mean we can biologically replace lost adult teeth for the first time in history.
ANIMAL TOOTH FACTS (WOW)!
- An elephant’s tooth can weigh three kilograms? That’s heavier than a big jug of milk!
- Even though whales are very big, some of them don’t have any teeth. Instead, they have rows of stiff hair like combs that take food out of the ocean.
- Snails are very small but they can have thousands of tiny teeth all lined up in rows.
- Rabbit teeth never stop growing. They are worn down by gnawing on bark and other hard foods.
- Lemon sharks grow a new set of teeth every two weeks. They grow more than 24,000 new teeth every year!