A chimpanzee displaying its teeth

Tooth (plural teeth) are small, calcified, whitish structures found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates that are used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores, also use teeth for hunting or for defensive purposes. The roots of teeth are covered by gums. Teeth are not made of bone, but rather of multiple tissues of varying density and hardness.

Teeth are among the most distinctive (and long-lasting) features of mammal species. Paleontologists use teeth to identify fossil species and determine their relationships. The shape of the animal's teeth are related to its diet. For example, plant matter is hard to digest, so herbivores have many molars for chewing and grinding. Carnivores, on the other hand, need canines to kill prey and to tear meat.

Mammals are diphyodont, meaning that they develop two sets of teeth. In humans, the first set (the "baby," "milk," "primary" or "deciduous" set) normally starts to appear at about six months of age, although some babies are born with one or more visible teeth, known as neonatal teeth. Normal tooth eruption at about six months is known as teething and can be painful.

Some animals develop only one set of teeth (monophyodont) while others develop many sets (polyphyodont). Sharks, for example, grow a new set of teeth every two weeks to replace worn teeth. Rodent incisors grow and wear away continually through gnawing, which helps maintain relatively constant length. The industry of the beaver is due in part to this qualification. Many rodents such as voles (but not mice) and guinea pigs, as well as leporidae like rabbits, have continuously growing molars in addition to incisors.^[1][2]

Mammals[link]

Aardvark[link]

In Aardvarks, teeth lack enamel and have many pulp tubules, hence the name of the order Tubulidentata.

Cetaceans[link]

The toothed whale is a suborder of the cetaceans characterized by having teeth. The teeth differ considerably among the species. They may be numerous, with some dolphins bearing over 100 teeth in their jaws. On the other hand, the narwhals have a giant unicorn-like tusk, which is a tooth containing millions of sensory pathways and used for sensing during feeding, navigation and mating. It is the most neurologically complex tooth known. Beaked whales are almost toothless, with only bizarre teeth found in males. These teeth may be used for feeding but also for demonstrating aggression and showmanship.

Primates[link]

Horse[link]

An adult horse has between 36 and 44 teeth. All horses have 12 premolars, 12 molars, and 12 incisors.^[3] Generally, all male equines also have four canine teeth (called tushes) between the molars and incisors. However, few female horses (less than 28%) have canines, and those that do usually have only one or two, which many times are only partially erupted.^[4] A few horses have one to four wolf teeth, which are vestigial premolars, with most of those having only one or two. They are equally common in male and female horses and much more likely to be on the upper jaw. If present these can cause problems as they can interfere with the horse's bit contact. Therefore, wolf teeth are commonly removed.^[3]

Horse teeth can be used to estimate the animal's age. Between birth and five years, age can be closely estimated by observing the eruption pattern on milk teeth and then permanent teeth. By age five, all permanent teeth have usually erupted. The horse is then said to have a "full" mouth. After the age of five, age can only be conjectured by study of the wear patterns on the incisors, shape, the angle at which the incisors meet, and other factors. The wear of teeth may also be affected by diet, natural abnormalities, and cribbing. Two horses of the same age may have different wear patterns.

A horse's incisors, premolars, and molars, once fully developed, continue to erupt as the grinding surface is worn down through chewing. A young adult horse will have teeth which are 4.5-5 inches long, with the majority of the crown remaining below the gumline in the dental socket. The rest of the tooth will slowly emerge from the jaw, erupting about 1/8" each year, as the horse ages. When the animal reaches old age, the crowns of the teeth are very short and the teeth are often lost altogether. Very old horses, if lacking molars, may need to have their fodder ground up and soaked in water to create a soft mush for them to eat in order to obtain adequate nutrition.

Proboscideans[link]

Section through the ivory tusk of a mammoth

Elephants' tusks are specialized incisors for digging food up and fighting. Some of elephant teeth are similar to those in manatees, and it is notable that elephants are believed to have undergone an aquatic phase in their evolution.

Elephants have four molars, one on each side of the upper and lower jaw. Until age 40, these are replaced by larger molars. The new molars shift forward from the back of the jaw as the old wear down. The final set of molars last for about twenty years.^[5]

Rabbit[link]

Rabbits and other lagomorphs usually shed their deciduous teeth before (or very shortly after) their birth, and are usually born with their permanent teeth.^[6] The teeth of rabbits complement their diet, which consist of a wide range of vegetation. Since many of the foods are abrasive enough to cause attrition, rabbit teeth grow continuously throughout life.^[7] Rabbits have a total of 6 incisors, three upper premolars, three upper molars, two lower premolars, and two lower molars on each side. There are no canines. Three to four millimeters of tooth is worn away by incisors every week, whereas the posterior teeth require a month to wear away the same amount.^[8] Anatomy of rabbit teeth

The incisors and cheek teeth of rabbits are called aradicular hypsodont teeth. This is sometimes referred to as an elodent dentition. These teeth grow or erupt continuously. The growth or eruption is held in balance by dental abrasion from chewing a diet high in fiber.

Rodent[link]

Rodents' incisors grow continuously throughout their lives, a process known as aradicular. Unlike humans whose ameloblasts die after tooth development, rodents continually produce enamel and must wear down their teeth by gnawing on various materials.^[9] These teeth are used for cutting wood, biting through the skin of fruit, or for defense. The teeth have enamel on the outside and exposed dentin on the inside, so they self-sharpen during gnawing. On the other hand, continually growing molars are found in some rodent species, such as the sibling vole and the guinea pig.^[10][11] There is variation in the dentition of the rodents, but generally, rodents lack canines and premolars, and have a space between their incisors and molars, called the diastema region.

Manatees[link]

Mandibular molars of manatees develop separately from the jaw and are encased in a bony shell separated by soft tissue.

Walrus[link]

Walrus tusks are canine teeth that grow continuously throughout life.^[12]

Dogs[link]

In dogs, the teeth are less likely than humans to form dental cavities because of the very high pH of dog saliva, which prevents enamel from demineralizing.^[13]

Fish[link]

Fish, such as sharks, may go through many teeth in their lifetime. The multiple replacement of teeth is known as polyphydontia.

Reptiles[link]

The teeth of reptiles are replaced constantly during their life. Juvenile crocodilians replace teeth with larger ones at a rate as high as 1 new tooth per socket every month. Once adult, tooth replacement rates can slow to two years and even longer. Over all, crocodilians may use 3,000 teeth from birth to death. New teeth are created within old teeth.

Fossilization and taphonomy[link]

Because teeth are very resistant, often preserved when bones are not,^[14] and reflect the diet of the host organism, they are very valuable to archaeologists and palaeontologists. Early fish such as the thelodonts had teeth for scales, suggesting that the origin of teeth was scales which were retained in the mouth. Fish as early as the late Cambrian had dentine in their exoskeleton, which may have functioned in defense or for sensing their environment.^[15] Dentine can be as hard as the rest of teeth, and is composed of collagen fibres, reinforced with hydroxyapatite.^[15]

Decalcification removes the enamel from teeth and leaves only the organic interior intact, which comprises dentine and cementine.^[16] Enamel is quickly decalcified in acids,^[17] perhaps by dissolution by plant acids or via diagenetic solutions, or in the stomachs of vertebrate predators.^[16] Enamel can be lost by abrasion or spalling,^[16] and is lost before dentine or bone are destroyed by the fossilisation process.^[17] In such a case, the 'skeleton' of the teeth would consist of the dentine, with a hollow pulp cavity.^[16] The organic part of dentine, conversely, is destroyed by alkalis.^[17]

References[link]

External links[link]

Dentistry portal

• Beach, Chandler B., ed. (1914). " Teeth". The New Student's Reference Work. Chicago: F. E. Compton and Co.. Wikisource