Did You Know Your Teeth Hide More Relatable Hilarious Little Facts Than Any Other Part Of Your Body

We break down the most approachable interesting science facts about your teeth that fit perfectly into your everyday life, no fancy jargon or confusing research required

You spend two whole minutes brushing your teeth twice a day, but have you ever stopped to think about how many tiny little secrets these pearly white helpers hold? Your tooth enamel, the outermost shiny layer covering every visible part of your teeth, is the hardest substance in your entire body, even stronger than the bones that make up your skeleton. The sharp stinging feeling you get when you take a big bite of extra cold vanilla ice cream is not a sign your teeth are breaking, but a signal that tiny microscopic tunnels in the softer layer under the enamel are sending temperature signals straight to the nerve core of each tooth. Most people only manage to clean roughly 70 percent of their total tooth surface during each brushing session, which means the remaining 30 percent hidden between teeth and along the gum line stays coated in thin layers of plaque all day long. The tiny bits of apple or cracker you find stuck in your teeth hours after finishing a meal do not just stay there doing nothing: the natural bacteria in your mouth feast on those tiny food scraps nonstop, releasing mild acids that slowly wear down the smooth enamel surface over time, even if you do not feel any immediate pain or discomfort.

Have you ever yawned so wide while waiting for your morning coffee that you heard a faint clicking sound near your ear, and immediately worried you might have broken a part of your jaw? That harmless little noise comes from the temporomandibular joint right in front of your ear, the small movable piece that connects your lower jaw to your skull, and roughly one third of all adults experience this random clicking at least a few times a year. It is almost never a sign of serious damage, and all you need to do to make it go away is avoid chewing extra hard items like unpopped popcorn kernels, full hard candy cubes or ice cubes for a few days, and try not to open your mouth to its maximum possible stretch when you laugh or yawn. Many people do not realize that their habit of breathing through their mouth while sleeping can slowly shift their teeth out of position over the span of several years. When your tongue does not rest gently against the roof of your mouth while you are asleep, there is no soft gentle pressure holding your upper teeth in place, so the steady light pressure from your pursed lips slowly pushes your front teeth outward, creating tiny gaps that were not there when you were a teenager.

Every single tiny scratch and faint wear mark on your teeth acts as a completely unique life record that no one else in the world will ever have an exact copy of. People who drink multiple cups of black coffee or strong iced tea every day will develop faint subtle stains on the back side of their molars that no amount of regular brushing can fully remove, people who eat extra crispy fried snacks every week will wear down the tiny deep grooves on their chewing surfaces much faster than people who prefer softer steamed foods, and even the tiny faint chip on your front tooth from when you tripped and fell as a seven year old will stay visible on your tooth for your entire adult life, since enamel cannot repair itself or regrow once it gets damaged. A lot of people waste hundreds of dollars on high strength whitening strips advertised on social media, not knowing that overusing these products will open up the tiny tunnels in your dentin layer, making your teeth extremely sensitive to hot and cold food for multiple days in a row. The easiest and lowest cost way to keep your teeth bright for decades is simply to rinse your mouth with plain water right after eating or drinking strongly colored food or drinks like berry juice, dark soda or soy sauce, instead of waiting hours to brush your teeth later.

One of the most common widely believed myths about children’s dental health is that it does not matter if the baby teeth grow crooked, since they are going to fall out anyway. That could not be further from the truth: every single baby tooth has a developing permanent tooth sitting directly under its root, and the position of the baby tooth will guide the direction the permanent tooth grows in when it is time for it to erupt. If a young child keeps poking the empty gap left behind after a baby tooth falls out with their tongue every day, the new permanent tooth will almost always grow in at an odd angle, which means the family will have to spend thousands of dollars on orthodontic braces years later to fix the misalignment. Around half of all adults grind their teeth unconsciously while they are asleep, and most people have no idea they are doing this until their dentist points out the flattened edges on their molars during a regular checkup. The soreness you feel in your cheek muscles when you wake up after a particularly stressful day is almost always caused by this unconscious night grinding, and a low cost soft silicone night guard you can buy at any pharmacy will eliminate 99 percent of this problem immediately, no expensive complicated dental procedures required.

Your set of teeth is designed to last you for your entire natural lifespan, if you give them the tiny amount of consistent gentle care they really need. You never need to spend thousands of dollars on fancy luxury dental products or unnecessary high end treatments to keep your teeth healthy and strong. All you really need to do is add 10 extra seconds to your brushing routine to gently scrape the bacteria off the surface of your tongue, rinse your mouth out with water after every meal you do not have time to brush after, and stop using your teeth as a makeshift tool to open beer bottles, rip open plastic packaging or bite through tough packaging tape. These tiny low effort habits will stack up over the years, and you will get to keep your full set of healthy strong teeth well into your 70s and 80s, so you can keep enjoying every single delicious meal you love without any extra pain or unnecessary inconvenience.