What do we have teeth for? I asked my daughter and quick came the reply -” For crunching candies?  For biting?”  Whaaat! I said in complete disbelief. Its high time, I thought, to let her know that other than being a self-defense tool and catering to her sweet tooth, teeth are also very useful for other things. Here’s what I told her:

Teeth are particularly important to us for following reasons:

1. They help us in grinding and chewing our food so that our stomach would have lesser work to do to digest it.

2. They help us talk properly. In case you have noticed, exceptionally old people with no or few teeth are not able to speak very clearly.

3. They give our face structure and are the reason behind that beautiful smile.

Till about age 5 or 6 we have 20 baby teeth. Then baby teeth begin to fall to give way to permanent teeth. All Grown ups have 32 permanent teeth.

Every time we eat, our teeth are attacked by bacteria. This bacteria slowly collects on our tooth and begins to look like a white sticky substance which is called Plaque. This plaque when combines with sugar become acid that slowly damages the teeth. Therefore, rinsing teeth every time we eat meals and especially sweets is a must.

Fun Teeth Facts:

• Teeth are as unique as fingerprints! Even identical twins have different dental patterns.
• In remote areas, where toothbrush is not available, people still use neem tree twigs instead of a brush.
• Before the invention of toothpaste, people used powdered charcoal, lemon juice, ashes (fire leftovers) and honey mixed together as toothpaste.
• Sometimes Permanent teeth come as soon as in 5 years of age. The size of these permanent teeth is the same as it would be when we are adults. As we grow to become adults, our face grows but not the size of our permanent teeth. So don’t bother if they look awkwardly big for your face. No, wonder the term “Bunny teeth”!!