Teeth Facts for Kids

A Picture of Human Teeth
  • Organ Name: Teeth
  • Organ Location: Mouth (Upper and lower jaw)
  • Organ System: Digestive System
  • Organ Purpose: Break apart food for digestion
  • Organ Weight: Between 0.51 and 2.28 grams
  • Organ Count: 32 (adult) and 20 (child)

20 Teeth Facts for Kids

  1. Human teeth are used to break down food before its swallowed and enters the digestive system.
  2. Humans will have two sets of teeth throughout their entire lifetime, their baby teeth and permanent teeth.
  3. As a young child grows up, their baby teeth fallout and are replaced by their permanent teeth.
  4. A young child will have a total of 20 teeth, 10 in the upper jaw and 10 in the lower jaw.
  5. An adult human will have a total of 32 teeth, 16 in the upper jaw and 16 in the lower jaw.
  6. There are four types of human teeth, and they are canines, incisors, molars and premolars.
  7. The incisor teeth are used to cut up the food.
  8. The canine teeth are used to tear up the food.
  9. The molars and premolars are used to crush the food.
  10. A human tooth has three main sections and they are the crown, neck and root.
  11. The crown is the visible part of your tooth you can see in your mouth.
  12. The neck is the part of the tooth that connects the root and crown together.
  13. The root is the part of the tooth that is attached to your gums.
  14. There are four main components of a human tooth and they are the enamel, dentin, cementum and dental pulp.
  15. Enamel is the hard mineralized substance that surrounds the outer surface of the human tooth.
  16. Dentin is calcified tissue underneath the enamel surface.
  17. Cementum surrounds the root of a tooth and helps the tooth attach to tissue in the jaw and keep it stable.
  18. Dental pulp is tissue, blood vessels and nerves that are surrounded by the dentin and helps provide nutrients, detect pain, defend against infections and produce more dentin.
  19. Oral hygiene, such as brushing your teeth and flossing, will prevent tooth decay, dental and gum diseases.
  20. An example of tooth and gum disease is cavities, periodontal disease and gingivitis.

Additional Resources on Human Teeth

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