Dental Hygiene and Care

Let’s have a look at the structure of a typical molar. Every tooth has a crown with cusps. It is the part of the tooth you can see and feel. It also has the neck and the root, the part of the tooth that is buried in the jaw. A tooth is made of enamel. It is the hardest substance in your body. It is even harder than bone. Dentine comes after enamel. Dentine is a dense calcified substance that is composed of less animal matter than bone. Enamel and dentine both contain large amounts of the minerals calcium and phosphorus. They also contain smaller amounts of other minerals including fluoride. Inside of the tooth there is a pulp with blood vessels and nerves.

Good teeth remain strong and healthy for many years as long as the enamel on them is not damaged. If the enamel is cracked or destroyed, the much softer dentine gets exposed. The tooth will then decay rapidly. These areas of decay are called dental caries.

A tooth can be repaired by drilling out the damaged and decayed parts. The hole is then filled to seal the enamel layer again. If this is impossible the whole tooth must be removed because the decay could spread into the jaw bone.
Enamel is destroyed by acids, and this is the cause of dental caries. This may puzzle you. You don’t eat many things which contain acids, so where do they come from?

There are millions of bacteria living in your mouth. On their own they are harmless. They are found in the mouths of even the healthiest people. These bacteria combine with saliva to form an invisible material called plaque. Plaque will cover up the enamel on your teeth, if you let it, especially near the gum line and between the teeth. Like all living things, these bacteria must feed. They feed on sugar, and produce waste which contains acid. It is this acid which dissolves the enamel.

There are several stages of teeth growth.

The teeth of a new-born baby grow inside the gums and jaws, though they are not visible. The baby starts teething at the age of about six months when the first tooth erupts through the gum.

In most children, by the age of three, all twenty of the deciduous teeth will have erupted. These teeth are sometimes called baby teeth or milk teeth.

The child’s jaw goes on growing while the deciduous teeth do not. If the deciduous teeth stayed in place they would be far too small for an adult. This is the reason why they are replaced by the larger permanent teeth. The change begins at about the age of six. The permanent teeth grow up under the deciduous teeth. The roots of the deciduous teeth dissolve and the crowns become loose. Finally the crowns drop out. Then the permanent teeth erupt in their place.

By the age of thirteen or fourteen, twenty-eight of the permanent teeth have normally erupted. The four remaining molars usually erupt between the ages of seventeen and twenty-one. These are called the wisdom teeth.

We can ask ourselves a question whether we could really we manage without teeth and why we need them.

The answer seems to be pretty obvious – yes, we do. Most of us enjoy eating, but would we enjoy it as much if our teeth were loose, painful or missing? You will find it uncomfortable to eat. A healthy diet contains many foods which must be broken up into small pieces before they can be swallowed. And now just imagine how many foods you could still eat easily even if you had no teeth. Not so many, right?

When we speak, the tongue touches the teeth to help make some sounds. With no teeth you will definitely find it difficult to speak properly. Just make a list of words which are pronounced with the tongue against the teeth.

Let alone the esthetic aspect. Beautiful and healthy teeth are always appealing. You may find yourself embarrassed while smiling. You may also be ashamed to open your mouth to laugh.

Your teeth should last as long as you do, if you take care of them. If you do not look after them, you may suffer from painful toothache and gum disease.

According to statistics only eleven in every hundred teenagers have no filled or decayed teeth.
Also one third of all people over the age of 16 had lost all of their natural teeth.

Therefore, everyone should know how to take care of his teeth. We should know how teeth grow and what they are made of, what can go wrong with them and how to prevent dental problems.