Minions
(Photo: Justin Lim)
My last article was about tongue, so I thought why not write about its neighbors teeth this time. Here are some interesting information about teeth
- Both vertebrates and invertebrates have teeth.
- Amongst all inherited disorders, 20% constitute to teeth disorders.
- The earliest origins of teeth was in jawless fishes about 500 million years ago.
- Teeth are one of the hardest structures of the human body and the last to degenerate. They have high resistance to decomposition and temperatures, hence used in forensic identification.
- Age estimation methods using a single tooth were developed as early as the 1950s.
- Children and adolescents age is determined by studying the number of teeth that have erupted in the oral cavity.
- Barr bodies present in teeth help in sex dtermination.
- Amelogenin protein is important for normal tooth development and is expressed by AMELX gene.
- In males, two different AMEL genes are present, one on X chromosome and other on the Y chromosome, while females have identical AMEL genes located on X chromosomes
- Dental plaque, a microfilm which covers the tooth surface leads to dental diseases and the main function of toothpaste is to remove these plaques.
- Fluoride is the major contributor for preventing tooth decay and is the main ingredient in toothpaste.
- Amongst vertebrates, birds do not have teeth due to deactivation of genes responsible for dentin and enamel. This loss of teeth began approximately 106 million years ago.
Human teeth (Photo: Enis Yavuz)
I hope you enjoyed reading this article and hopefully this will inspire you to do your own research!
Royalty free images were used.
