Types of Teeth
Teeth are hard, calcified structures, attached to the upper and lower jaws of vertebrates and of a few lower animals.
Human teeth: human teeth serve major function other than chewing. The teeth are directly involved in the process of speech. The teeth also affect the appearance of face and modified by the loss of neighboring teeth or by any irregularity in tooth growth or coloring.
Dental Care – Structure and arrangement of teeth
Teeth arrangements: in buccal, cavity, different types of teeth are arranged in definite order and embedded in gum socket. Human teeth consist of three parts. Crown, neck, and root. Only the crown part is exposed. Neck is surrounded by gum. The root is embedded in a bony socket of the jaw. The outer layer of the crown is composed of calcified tissue known as enamel-the hardest and shiny substance in the body.
Internally the tooth contains a cavity called pulp cavity because it has a nourishing and sensitive material called pulp. The pulp is made of gelatinous connective tissues, lymph vessels, blood capillaries and nerve endings. Stellate cells called odontoblast line the pulp cavity.
Odontoblasts produce a substance called dentine, a bone like substance extending from the inner surface of the enamel in to the jaw to form the root. Dentine is further covered over by another hard substance in the region of root and neck. It is called cement.
Dental Care – Milk or temporary teeth and permanent teeth
In human, one set of 20 teeth is produced for use during early jaw development: these are called the milk or baby teeth. A second set of 32 larger permanent teeth replaces the milk teeth as the jaw matures. As a result of the growth and enlargement of the jaw, the roots of the milk teeth separate, allowing space for the larger permanent teeth to develop between them. The pressure of developing permanent teeth causes the tissues of the jaw to resorb, or suck up, the roots of the corresponding milk teeth.
Dental Care – Types of teeth
All the teeth in our mouth are not like. There are four types of teeth in our mouth. These are called incisors, canines, premolars and molars. The incisors are for biting the food, the canines for cutting and tearing the food and premolars and molars for grinding the food. So the teeth chew the food well.
Wisdom teeth are the third molar teeth, which do not usually erupt until adulthood.
