If you ask any dentist they are likely to tell you that teeth are easily the most common part of our anatomy that we take for granted. People are often surprised when they get cavities, even though if they did even a small inventory on the things they expose them to, they wouldn’t be surprised at all. Not only do we take them for granted, but there are a multitude of surprising things you probably don’t know about them. Here’s a list of five things we bet you didn’t know
1. Babies with teeth
Did you know that about 1 in every 2000 babies are born with natal teeth? Natal teeth commonly grow on the bottom gums but they tend to have very weak roots. Most often they have to be removed to spare the mother from breast feeding pain and to keep babies from swallowing them if they fall out.
2. People will out-evolve wisdom teeth
Back in the Stone Age people ate a lot of things that we don’t, now. However, nowadays 35% of people are born without wisdom teeth. Strange but true, when we stop needing parts of our body, we will eventually stop growing them. If you ever had to have wisdom teeth removed, you probably wished you were one of the 35%.
3. Not everyone loses baby teeth
By age three, most kids have a full set of 20 temporary teeth. When they start growing their adult teeth, they push the baby teeth out. However, in some cases, no permanent teeth grow in and the baby tooth can stay. In which case, due to the weakness of the tooth, it needs to be removed, and replaced with an adult dental implant.
4. Tumors can grow teeth
Tumors are strange things indeed. Germ cell tumors actually contain many types of tissue and can grow on multiple spots on the body. Believe it or not, they can grow teeth, hair, or even limbs.
5. Not all cultures love straight teeth
In our current culture, bright white straight even teeth are the ideal. But In some other cultures like Japan, crooked teeth are so coveted that people with straight teeth often get crooked veneers.
Come in and see Colorado Springs Dentist Dr. Andrew Hall to learn something new about your teeth, today.
