One day, around the age of eight, the unexpected might happen. Your first baby tooth may fall out!
This is a very exciting event! It is likely that the tooth has been loose for quite a while and that you have impatiently been waiting for this to happen.
It is a sign that you are growing older and that you are ready to start getting your adult teeth. Your teeth are one of the few things that you are not born with.
Most of the rest of your body including the brain and the heart are ready to go when you are born. However, the teeth are still not fully developed.
They do not fully develop and become visible until between six and twelve months old. The appearance of the first baby tooth is also a very exciting event.
Once the first one appears, the rest of the teeth usually appear fairly quickly. This process is called teething and is somewhat uncomfortable.
Babies who are in this process usually fuss quite a bit. A complete set of teeth should be present by the time the child is three years old.
The baby teeth are also known as primaries and a complete set usually consists of about 20 teeth. These teeth can begin falling out around the ages of five or six.
These teeth begin falling out when the adult or permanent teeth start coming in from behind. The pressure from the permanents dissolves the roots of the primaries, and the primaries fall out.
By the age of twelve or thirteen, most kids will have a complete permanent set. This set consists of 28 teeth.
Later, four more teeth will come in around the ages of 17 to 21. These additions are known as wisdom teeth and they complete the adult set of teeth with a total of 32.
The part of the tooth that you can see is known as the crown. The crown of every tooth is covered with enamel.
Enamel is very hard and shiny and acts as a protection for what is inside the tooth. Right under the enamel, the dentin is present.
The largest part of the tooth is the dentin. Dentin is also very hard, although not quite as hard as the enamel.
It is added protection for the parts of the tooth that are farther in. These parts are known as the pulp of the tooth.
The pulp includes the area where the nerve endings and blood supply are. The pulp is a very sensitive area that tells you that you are eating ice cream that is too cold or hot chocolate that is too hot.
It also throbs is you accidentally hit your tooth on something or damage your teeth in other ways. The nerves in the pulp let your brain know what is going on in your mouth.
The pulp also contains the tooth's blood vessels that bring the nutrients that are needed to the tooth. This part of the tooth extends all the way down to include the root of the tooth.
Cementum is the part of the root which anchors the tooth to the jawbone. In your set of 32 teeth, there are several different kinds of teeth.
The different designs are intended to perform different functions. The two front teeth and those on either side are called incisors.
You have a total of eight incisors. They are thinner and are somewhat sharp.
Incisors are intended for cutting and chopping food on the initial bite. There should also be four pointy teeth on the edges by your incisors.
These are called canine teeth. The pointed sharpness of these teeth are also useful when tearing or biting into food.
Next to the canines are teeth called premolars or bicuspid teeth. You should have a total of eight premolars.
Premolars are bigger and flatter than the other teeth that have been mentioned. They are also stronger which makes them perfect for grinding the food after you have a bite in your mouth.
The last type of teeth you have are the molars. You should also have eight of these teeth.
Molars are even stronger than the premolars. While they also help grind the food, they are instrumental in swallowing your food.
Of course, then your wisdom teeth will come in. Wisdom teeth are not used for anything important.
As a result they are often taken out. The combination of all of these kinds of teeth make it easy to eat and swallow food.
Author Resource:-
Ronald Pedactor is a former dental assistant and has authored hundreds of articles relating to oral health. He worked for a cosmetic dentist in South Carolina before becoming a guest dental lecturer for the past 15 years.
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