Structure of a Tooth
A tooth consists of two sections, the crown and the root. The crown is section above the gumline, while the root is located below the gumline in a bony tooth socket. Surrounding the crown is a white substance known as enamel; the enamel is a dense, hard, white substance and is the hardest substance in the human body. Below the enamel is dentin which makes up the majority of the tooth, present in both the root and crown. Dentin is made up of a yellow bony tissue. While above the gumline, dentin is protected by the enamel, below the gumline it’s protected by cementum which is designed to protect, support and cover the dentin, oustide the cementum is the periodontal membrane. This membran is what holds the tooth place in the tooth socket. Inside the dentin is pulp. Pulp is a very soft and delicate tissue that fills up the center of the tooth, within the pulp canal (AKA root canal) is blood vessels, nerve endings, connective tissue and lymphatic vessels.
Information on Teeth
Did you know that humans have two sets of teeth? Our first pair is called milk teeth and we have these when we are babies, infact these teeth start forming before we are even born. The terms “milk”, “baby”, “primary”, and “deciduous” teeth are all names for the first set of teeth. Roughly around the age of seven most people will lose their first teeth. The first permanent teeth to erupt (appear visibly in the oral cavity) are the first molars in the back of the mouth, right behind the last baby molar. In adulthood humans have a total of 32 teeth, 16 in each dental arch. The diagram above shows both bottom and top dental arches along with all 32 permanent teeth.