THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TOOTH STRUCTURE AND DIET

“How many teeth do you have?”

Normally most people don’t know exactly how many teeth we have. We, humans, have 32 adult teeth in total; however, sometimes wisdom teeth don’t appear, so some people may have only 28 teeth.

There are four main types of teeth in human mouth: Incisors, canines, premolars, and molars (which include our wisdom teeth).

Each one has a different shape and function.

Incisors are the eight teeth in the front of your mouth (four on top and four on bottom).

These are the teeth that you use to take bites of your food.

Canines (or fangs) are the next type of teeth to develop.

You have four of them and they are your sharpest teeth and used for ripping and tearing food apart.

Premolars (or bicuspids) are used for chewing and grinding food.

Adults have four premolars on each side of their mouths — two on the upper and two on the lower jaw.

There is a strong relationship between tooth structure and your diet.

For example, cows are herbivores and eat grass.

They have no incisors in the font or canines in their upper jaw, and they have only six molars on their upper jaw (maxillary canines).

Their upper jaw has a hard and flat palate like a chopping board.

There are six incisors, two canines and twelve molars on their lower jaw.

Their teeth proportion and structure are suitable for eating grass.

By contrast, crocodiles are carnivores and eat only meat.

They have 50 to 100 teeth like a saw for catching and eating their prey.

We, humans, are omnivores.

・ Eight of our 32 teeth are incisors = 25% or about 30%,mainly used for biting vegetables.

・ Four of our 32 teeth are canines = 12% or about 10%,mainly used for ripping and tearing meat or fish.

・ Twenty of our 32 teeth are premolars and molars = 62% or about 60%, mainly use for grinding, tearing, and crushing grains and beans like whole grain rice or bread You can see that such tooth structure is the best proportion for human diet and health.