A tooth is a whitish small structure generally made up of calcium. These are located in jaws. They help to chew food in most of the vertebrates. Tooth has two parts, crown being the exposed part while roots are embedded inside the gums.

Tooth is the hardest substances human body has, even harder than any other bone of the body. Along with chewing, teeth also play important part in speech. Tooth is made up of some parts!

The outermost layer which is white in color is called Enamel. It is mostly composed of calcium phosphate. A mineral as hard as a rock.

The layer underneath Enamel is Dentine. It is made up of certain living cells which produce a hard mineral secretion.

The inner structure of tooth is called pulp. It is soft with large blood supply and nerves. It is considered as the most sensitive part of a tooth.

A layer of certain connective tissues which form a bond between roots of the teeth to the gums and run through the pulp. This part of tooth is called cementum.

Tissues are found which hold the tooth tightly against the jaw is known as periodontal ligament.

Human jaws have four types of teeth!

Incisors:

These are located at front in the mouth and are specialized for biting. They are used to cut and tear food into small pieces. They are provided with relatively large surface area for cutting and biting the food. There are total 8 incisors in human dentition. The number of incisors is same in both kids and adults.

Canines:

These are sharp and pointed and specialized for gripping and tearing the food. These teeth are more in number in carnivores as they have to tear the flesh of their prey. There are four canines located equally at both sides of incisors. The number of canines remains same in primary and permanent dentition.

The premolars:

Premolars as the name indicates are located before molars and have large surface which aids in biting. They serve to tear and crush the food. Permanent set of teeth have total eight premolars.

Molars:

They are the largest of the teeth and have are provided with large and flat surface for grinding the food. In primary dentition there are only eight molars while the number increases to 12 in permanent dentition.

Key Points

The number of primary teeth in human body is 20.
Mostly lower incisors erupt first at about 6 months. And between the ages of 2 to 2.5 years, human babies have all 20 primary teeth in their jaws. These all teeth will fall out and are replaced by permanent dentition.
There are 32 permanent teeth along with four wisdom teeth.

Primary as well as permanent set of dentition requires a lot of care. Proper brushing and a fluoride rich tooth paste to minimize the tooth decay.

Keeva dental care will provide you set of instructions for oral hygiene.

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