Did you know the average American spends 38.5 days of their life brushing their teeth? That the hardest part of your body is your tooth enamel? That people who drink a lot of soda have more tooth loss than people who drink little or none? Fun facts about teeth like these create an interest in children in dental care. They can encourage children to go to our Hyde Park pediatric dentistry office and see their dentist more often. This can be fostered into good dental hygiene with time. Tell your kids these facts, and here are some more!
- People who don’t floss leave 40% of their tooth surface dirty. Everyone should floss and brush twice a day.
- Children in the US spend about $300,000 on gum every year.
- Left-handed people tend to chew their food on the left side. Right-handed people will tend to chew on the right side. Therefore, most tooth problems end up being on the right.
- People prefer blue over red toothbrushes. We don’t know why, but it is a fact.
- People don’t only have fingerprints; we have “tongue prints.” These are unique to each and every one of us.
Do Men or Women Smile More?
Adults laugh a lot less than kids, and men smile a lot less than women. Adults laugh around 15 times a day, compared to 400 for kids. Women and men smile 62 and 8 times a day on average. Dentists recommend brushing for about 2 minutes a day. However, people brush for just 45 to 70 seconds on average. By age 17, more than three-quarters of all Americans have at least one cavity. Commercial floss was first made in 1882. Dental plaque consists of more than 300 types of bacteria strains. Pigs have 44 teeth. Dogs have 42 teeth. Cats have 30 teeth. Armadillos have 104 teeth. Snails can have more than 25,000. Giraffes have no top teeth, and blue whales have no teeth at all. That’s why all they can eat are small shrimp.Who Had the Most Expensive Teeth?
One of Sir Isaac Newton’s teeth sold for $3,633 two centuries ago. Crocodiles don’t need to clean their teeth. The Crocodile Bird flies into their mouths and does it for them. Elephants grow new molars after grinding their old ones down. Over an elephant’s lifetime, this will happen six times. What’s even more impressive is that an elephant’s molar can weigh more than 6 pounds. A can of soda contains 12 teaspoons of sugar!Fun Facts about Teeth and Their History
- In 1950, the “tooth fairy” left 25 cents on average. Today, it is $2.00.
- Lucy Beaman Hobbs became the first female dentist licensed to practice in 1866.
- The first dentist in history lived in Egypt 5 millennia ago.
- Ancient Greeks used talc, pumice, iron rust, or coral powder to brush their teeth.
- Before the toothbrush was invented, people would chew on the tips of tree twigs to spread out the fibers. Then, they cleaned their teeth using the fibers.
- You may have heard that George Washington had wooden teeth. You may have even seen pictures. They are fake. His dentures were made of a mix of ivory, gold, human teeth, and hippo tusks.