All vertebrates have teeth, meaning all creatures with a backbone. The number, size, shape, and positioning of teeth vary by species, but human and animal teeth have the same basic makeup: a mixture of calcium, phosphorus, and mineral salts. If it’s challenging to get your family members interested in oral health, try some fun and some surprising facts.
Humans have 32 teeth. Eight of them are teeth that tear or cut, and they’re called incisors. Remember that they’re for food, though. We see too many sad patients who used their now broken teeth to break a tag off a new pair of clothes, to open a bag of their favorite snack, or to chew the cap of their preferred pen to smithereens. Our teeth are strong, but they can break if they’re misused.
Dogs rarely get cavities because the pH of their saliva is very high. This prevents demineralization, a process that wears away at tooth enamel. Fluoride helps prevent and in some cases repair demineralization in people, which is why we offer fluoride treatments in our office.
Elephants have molars that can weight up to 10 lbs, and that’s what we call a holy molar! Elephant teeth fall out approximately every 10 years, with a new set growing in afterwards. This can happen up to six times over the course of an elephant’s life! We humans only get two sets of teeth, so we have to be more careful about the way we take care of ours.
Blue whales are larger than elephants – in fact, they’re the largest mammal on earth – but their diet consists exclusively of tiny shrimp because they don’t have any teeth. Next time you bite into a crispy, juicy apple or enjoy some corn on the cob, consider yourself lucky to have the chompers for it.
Hippos are tricky. When they open their mouths, it might look like they have only four teeth, but they actually have 40! Eight more than most of us.
Giant Armadillos (yes, that’s a real creature) have the most teeth of all animals. We’re talking about as many as 100 teeth! Can you imagine flossing if you had that many teeth??
Snails aren’t an animal but they have, oh you know, approximately 25,000 teeth! They’re located on their tongues, though, so you have to know where to look if you’re a dentist and one happens to come into your office for a checkup.
Calculate 1 percent of the amount of teeth that a snail has and you’ll get the number of teeth most dolphins have: around 250. They get one set for life, but their teeth do grow new layers to help keep them strong.
Pocket gophers’ teeth grow like finger nails. As much as 15 inches in a year! Is that cool or kind of gross? Maybe both.