Dental Alveoli

We just learned about the Amelogenesis.

Another part of the mouth is the Dental Alveoli, also known as the tooth sockets.

These are the part of the jaw that holds on to the roots of the teeth to keep them from wiggling around.


(from: wikipedia - dental alveolus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Sternoclavicular Ligaments

Amelogenesis

We just learned about the Tooth - Bell Stage.

Another part of a tooth growing is the Amelogenesis.

This is also called the Crown Stage or Advanced Bell Stage, and it is when the bell of the tooth starts to actually make the enamel that will be the hard outside of the tooth.


(from: wikipedia - human tooth development)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Posterior Sacroiliac Ligament

Tooth - Bell Stage

We just learned about the Tooth - Cap Stage.

Another part of a tooth growing is the Bell Stage.

The tooth buds that grew into a cap shape keep growing and make more of a bell shape.
Enamel and dentin have started to take shape, and the crown of the tooth has started to take the right shape.


(from: wikipedia - human tooth development)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Costoxiphoid Ligaments

Tooth - Cap stage

We just learned about the Tooth - Buds.

Another part of teeth growing is the Tooth - Cap stage.

The little buds that we already learned about keep growing and getting bigger, and they start to take a shape like a cap.
Later on these buds will turn into the hard enamel that makes up the outside of the tooth.


(from: wikipedia - human tooth development)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Superior Costotransverse Ligament

Tooth - Buds

We just learned about the Tooth - Initiation.

Another part of tooth development is the Tooth Buds.

The part where the teeth poke through the skin is called the dental lamina.
We already learned about the dental lamina skin getting soft in the Tooth Initiation.

After that the part of the jaw underneath the dental lamina starts to make cells that will one day turn into a tooth.
The skin starts to form a little bump for each of the 10 teeth that will be made.

These little buds are the Tooth Buds.
You can almost think of these like little seeds that will grow and some day pop out of the gums into teeth.


(from: wikipedia - human tooth development)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Radiate Ligament of Head of Rib

Tooth - Initiation

We just learned about the Dentinogenesis.

When teeth are first being developed in the gums by a baby before it is born, that is called the Initiation Stage.

Babies are usually born without any teeth showing, but their mouths have already started getting ready for teeth to be made in their jaw.

The first sign of teeth getting ready is when the skin in the mouth starts to change.
Very soon a tooth will be made underneath the skin, and the gums need to be ready to heal up quickly when a tooth pokes through the skin for the first time.


(from: wikipedia - dental lamina)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Posterior Longitudinal Ligament

Dentinogenesis

We just learned about the Odontoblast.

Another part of a tooth growing is Dentinogenesis.

This what it is called when the Odontoblasts that we learned about create the dentin inside the teeth.


(from: wikipedia - human tooth development)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Intervertebral Discs

Odontoblast

We just learned about the Tooth Root.

Another part of the tooth is the Odontoblast.

These are the cells inside where the pulp is that help make the dentin part of the tooth.


(from: wikipedia - odontoblast)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Supraspinous Ligament

Tooth Root

We just learned about the Crown.

Another part of the tooth is the Root.

This is the part of the tooth below the gums, that has the cementum and pulp in it.


(from: wikipedia - root canal)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Xiphoid Process

Crown

We just learned about the Pulp.

Another part of the tooth is the Crown.

This is the top part of the tooth that sticks out over the gums.


(from: wikipedia - crown (tooth))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Costal Cartilage

Pulp

We just learned about the Cementum.

Another part of the tooth is the Pulp.

This is the inside of the tooth underneath the dentin, where the living cells are like the nerves and blood vessels.


(from: wikipedia - pulp (tooth))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Temporomandibular Ligament

Cementum

We just learned about the Dentin.

Another part of the tooth is Cementum.

This is a hard covering for the tooth just like the enamel that we learned about, but it is covering the part of the tooth going down below the gums, called the root.


(from: wikipedia - cementum)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Skull Suture Tissue

Dentin

We just learned about the Tooth Enamel.

Another part of the tooth is the Dentin.

This is the part of the tooth right under the enamel.
It is not quite as hard as the enamel, but it helps support the tooth underneath it.


(from: wikipedia - dentin)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cartilage

Tooth Enamel

We just learned about Tooth Impaction.

Let's learn about what a tooth is made of!

The outside of the tooth that you can see is called Enamel.

Enamel is the hardest thing in the whole body, even harder than bone and nails.
It is made up mostly of something called hydroxyapatite, which is a kind of crystalline calcium.

Enamel is mostly white, but can be a little bit yellow or blueish if it is stained from food.


(from: wikipedia - tooth enamel)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Dense Connective Tissue

Tooth Impaction

We just learned about Dental Notation - Palmer.

We learned before that sometimes teeth don't show up in the right places.
When a tooth doesn't show up in the right place it is called an Impacted Tooth.

The tooth that gets impacted the most is the wisdom tooth.
Most of the time when a tooth is impacted it's because there wasn't enough room in the mouth for the tooth to come up, so it gets pushed off to the side or below, and can come out of the gums at the wrong place.


(from: wikipedia - tooth impaction)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Sharpey's Fibres

Dental Notation - Palmer

We just learned about Dental Notation - ISO.

Another type of Dental Notation is Palmer Notation.

This uses the same idea where the number starts at the front and goes backward, but it also uses a little L shaped or corner shaped symbol (┘└ ┐┌) to show which part of the mouth the tooth is in.

So if a dentist wants to talk about the 4th tooth in the upper right part of the mouth, they would use 4┘



(from: wikipedia - palmer notation)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Ligament

Dental Notation - ISO

We just learned about Dental Notation - Universal Numbering.

Another way of numbering teeth is the ISO System or the International Standards Organization System, also called the FDI system.

This way of numbering teeth puts teeth in four different sections by number:
1 - top right
2 - top left
3 - bottom left
4 - bottom right

The teeth in those areas are numbered starting from the front with 1, and the numbers go up as you get toward the back.
So the top right front tooth is 1-1, and the top left front tooth is 2-1.
The top right back tooth is 1-7, and the top left back tooth is 2-7.
The bottom teeth go from 3-1 to 3-7, and 4-1 to 4-7.

Some dentists like this way of numbering tooth because they can easily split the mouth up into 4 parts.




(from: wikipedia - dental notation)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Collagen

Dental Notation - Universal Numbering System

We just learned about Hypodontia.

When a dentist wants to look at your teeth, they give all your teeth a number so they can talk about which ones are healthy or have cavities.

This is called Dental Notation.

There are a few different ways that people number the teeth.
One way is called the Universal Numbering System

Sometimes a dentist will start with the upper right back adult or permanent tooth as #1 and then go 2,3,4,5,6,7,8 to the top middle, and 9,10,11,12,1314,15,16 to the top back left tooth.
Then next is the lower back left tooth at #17, and then toward the front 18,19,20,21,22,23,24.
From the front left around to the front right, 25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32.

Those are for the adult teeth.
If it's a primary or baby tooth, they use ABCDE from top right to top middle, and FGHIJ from top middle to top left.
KLMNO from bottom left to bottom middle, and PQRST from bottom middle to bottom right.


(from: wikipedia - universal numbering system)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Tendon

Hypodontia

We just learned about the Supernumerary Teeth.

Another thing that can happen in the mouth is Hypodontia, which means teeth that are missing, that never grew in the mouth.

This means when a person grows up and for some reason some of their teeth never came in.
They could be missing molars or incisors or canines.

If a lot of teeth are missing, it is called oligodontia.
If someone is missing all of their teeth, it is called anodontia.


(from: wikipedia - hypodontia)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Connective Tissue

Supernumerary Teeth

We just learned about the Wisdom Tooth.

Another set of teeth in the mouth are the Supernumerary Teeth or hyperdontia.

Usually grown up humans get up to 32 teeth.
Sometimes people don't get their last set of 4 molars, so they only have 28 teeth.
But sometimes people get even more teeth in places where they are not supposed to!

These are the supernumerary teeth, and they can show up as extra teeth anywhere in the mouth.
The most common place for them to show up is right by the maxillary central incisors, but sometimes they come up by the molars or somewhere else.


(from: wikipedia - hyperdontia)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Eponychium and Cuticle