15 Fun Dental Facts

Our teeth do an important job. Without them we wouldn’t be able to speak, eat, sing, or smile properly. We’d like to use this post to celebrate our teeth and share some interesting dental facts you maybe didn’t know!

Here Are 15 Interesting Dental Facts

1. If you floss daily, after 1 year the total length of floss would be able to extend around the perimeter of a baseball diamond!
   
2. Because birds lack teeth, many swallow small stones and pebbles to break up and digest their food.

3. Women smile on average 62 times a day and men only smile eight times a day.

4. Not very long ago, dentures were common wedding gifts in the United Kingdom. During that time, most people expected to lose all their teeth and had their teeth extracted at an early age.

5. Teeth are harder and more durable than bone and are the last part of the body to be broken down. In fact, enamel is the hardest substance in the human body.

6. In their lifetime, the average American spends 38.5 total days brushing their teeth.

7. Today, only 40% percent of children and young people ages 6-19 have had cavities in their life. That’s down from 50% just a decade ago!

8. During the middle ages, people thought that boiling a dog’s tooth in wine made an excellent mouth rinse to prevent tooth decay.

9. Before the legend of the Tooth Fairy, children in England and in Australia dropped their first baby tooth into a mouse hole, because they believed it would keep them free from toothaches.

10. The Egyptian Plover, also known as the crocodile bird, is known for flying into crocodile mouths to clean their teeth.

11. Prior to the 1850s, ‘toothpastes’ were often powders and contained soap and chalk.

12. An obscure law in Vermont states that it is not legal for women to wear false teeth without the written permission of their husband.

13. In Ancient Egypt, the wealthy were more likely to suffer from toothaches, since they were the only ones who could afford sweets.

14. Different animals have varying numbers of teeth; armadillos have 104, pigs have 44, and humans have 32.

15. The tusk of a narwhal is really a tooth

Do you know any other fun dental trivia? Please leave a comment below! If you need to schedule a visit with a dentist in Vancouver, WA contact us and we will be happy to assist you.