Aside from the fact that your teeth help you to chew and digest food, what do you really know about them?
Without a doubt, cutting and chewing your food is the primary function of your teeth, and to do this, they must be to be astonishingly durable. Your incisors exert between 30-50 pounds of pressure to bite your food, and your molars use around 200 pounds of force to chew it.
The name given to the part of the tooth that you can see is the crown. It is encased in enamel, a hard substance which extends to the gum line and stops at the beginning of the root. Enamel is a strong material composed of calcium and phosphorous. As the hardest substance in the body, it is ideal for biting and chewing as well as protecting the tooth from damage.
The number of roots a tooth has depends on its size, and how much force it needs to do its job. Below the gums, the root of the tooth is covered with cementum, a yellow substance that is not as strong as enamel and is very vulnerable to decay if exposed by a receding gum line.
Dentin and pulp are the tissues inside teeth. Dentin is not as strong as enamel, and it fills the greater portion of the inner tooth while pulp is found at the center of the tooth. This soft tissue chamber extends from the crown into the root and is filled with connective tissue networked with nerves and tiny blood vessels that nourish the dentin and keep the tooth alive.
Our dentist, Dr. Robert J Land will be happy to tell you more about your teeth and what you can do to keep them healthy. Please contact Robert J Land, DDS at 928-726-1700 to make an appointment, or come by our office in Yuma, Arizona.
