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By Peter S. Ungar

Most of us only think about teeth when something’s wrong with them — when they come in crooked, break, or begin to rot. But take a minute to consider your teeth as the extraordinary feat of engineering they are. They concentrate and transmit the forces needed to break food, again and again, up to millions of times over a lifetime. And they do it without themselves being broken in the process — with the very same raw materials used to make the plants and animals being eaten.

Chewing is like a perpetual death match in the mouth, with plants and animals developing tough or hard tissues for protection, and teeth evolving ways to sharpen or strengthen themselves to overcome those defenses. Most living things don’t want to be eaten. They often protect themselves by reinforcing their parts to stop eaters from breaking them into small enough bits to swallow or digest. It could be a hard shell to keep a crack from starting, or tough fibers to keep one from spreading. Either way, the eater still has to eat. And that’s where teeth come in. The variety of tooth types, especially across the mammals, is extraordinary. It’s a testament to what evolution can accomplish given time, motive, and opportunity.

Lots of animals have “teeth”; sea urchins, spiders, and slugs all have hardened tissues used for food acquisition and processing. But real teeth, like yours and mine, are special. They first appeared half a billion years ago, and Nature has spent the whole time since tinkering with ways to make them better. It’s a story written in stone – the fossil record. We see the appearance of a hard, protective coating of enamel, better ways of attaching tooth to jaw, differentiation of front and back teeth, tighter fit between opposing surfaces, and a new joint for precise movements of the jaw.

The motive is endothermy; we mammals heat our bodies from within. And chewing allows us to squeeze the energy we need to fuel our furnaces. The opportunity is evolvability; very slight genetic tweaks can have dramatic effects on tooth form and function. Consider the incredible variety of different tooth types in mammals, matched so well to the foods individual species eat. A lion has sharp-crested chewing teeth, with blades opposing one another like a pair of scissors, for slicing flesh. A cow has broad, flat ones broken by thin, curved ridges, like a cheese grater, for milling grass. You and I have thick molars with rounded cusps that fit neatly into opposing basins, like a mortar and pestle, for crushing and grinding whatever it is we eat.

There can be little doubt that the diversity, abundance, and success of mammals, including us, are due, in no small measure, to our teeth. Look in a mirror, smile, and think about it.

Peter S. Ungar received his PhD in Anthropological Sciences from Stony Brook University and taught Gross Anatomy in the medical schools at Johns Hopkins and Duke before moving to the University of Arkansas, where he now serves as Distinguished Professor and Chairman of the Department of Anthropology. He has written or co-authored more than 125 scientific papers on ecology and evolution for books and journals and is the author of Teeth: A Very Short Introduction.

The Very Short Introductions (VSI) series combines a small format with authoritative analysis and big ideas for hundreds of topic areas. Written by our expert authors, these books can change the way you think about the things that interest you and are the perfect introduction to subjects you previously knew nothing about. Grow your knowledge with OUPblog and the VSI series every Friday, subscribe to Very Short Introductions articles on the OUPblog via email or RSS, and like Very Short Introductions on Facebook.

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Image credit: Gebitsdiagram Chart created with Open Dental By Jordan Sparks. CC-BY-SA-3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

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If you recall, I'd completed and study for my summer tree/woman and was well on my way into a "final" version.  I thought it would go quickly - and the initial drawing did - but, I really got stuck on some things.

First of all, I did the study on a different paper than the one I'm using for this series.  It was a very smooth texture while the final has a bit more tooth.  It's always a bit of an adjustment, getting used to the different result.  But, the hardest part was that it was more difficult to get extreme darks that came so easily in the study because of the texture - the white of the paper shows through, lightening whatever value I put down.

I also struggled with the palm fronds, for some reason.  They came together so easily in the study - not so for the drawing that followed.  And then, I realized that I had really confined myself to almost only B-range pencils.  I really didn't use the the lighter values that I like to use in my drawings.  I flashed back to a college drawing class - I'd spent weeks on a poster-sized detailed still life and the professor commented that it appeared to consist mostly one value.  When I realized that, I started erasing to see if I could fix it, and this resulted in dirty, smudgy-looking work (not consistant with the other drawing in this series and rather sloppy for the subject matter).

So, much to my chagrin, I knew that this second drawing was not a final but another study.  There were elements in both drawings that I've taken and put into what will hopefully be the final drawing.  This time, I've started by laying down my light values - 4H, 2H, and HB - on the palm fronds.  I'll insert more dark shadows where needed, but I'm in the building of values stage.  This will take some time, depending on how much time I can carve out in the next few days.

In the meantime, I will continue to chip away at the mess of toys, shoes, and family stuff that always seems to pile up too quickly.  I'm teaching our writing co-op tomorrow - it's my turn and it's research paper time.

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What’s one of the most vivid childhood memories you have about a visit to the dentist?

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When you hold your first tiny newborn, a list of endless concerns begins to race through your mind. Surprisingly, one that doesn’t even register on that scale then will become your daily fixation for the next, oh, twenty years: teeth. Early on in your parenting career, those pearly whites become an obsession, or so it must seem to non-parents. When will they show up? Fall out? Grow back in? Need orthodontia? Have to be removed/repaired/replaced? It truly never ends. Since I spread my kids over the better part of two decades, I have some kid in each stage at any given time. My world and my checkbook basically revolve around teeth. And there are some things I really like about that. One of the traditions in our house is that no baby can claim to have a new tooth until they pass the “spoon test.” Only when we hear the distinctive Tink! Tink! Tink! of a spoon tapped against drooly gums hitting the edge of a tiny emerging tooth can we say that the baby has a new (or first) one. That is always a bittersweet occasion--the little one is growing, but the little one is also not so little anymore. While Connor’s teeth are being expensively straightened, Addison’s are falling out, and Keilana’s are being taken out, Scarlett is just getting some. Which is why we read The Tooth Book by Dr. Seuss’ alias Theo LeSieg. TEETH! They are very much in style. They must be very much worthwhile!


http://www.amazon.com/Tooth-Bright-Early-Beginning-Beginners/dp/0375810390

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_McKie

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/contributor.jsp?id=166971

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You just lost a tooth. Time to put your tooth under the pillow and be rewarded by the Tooth Fairy. Here are ten things that you should not want to get from the Tooth Fairy:

1. You do not want to get an IOU. Come on Tooth Fairy, deliver the goods.
2. You do not want to get a ham sandwich under your pillow. You are not amused.
3.  You do not want to get a rock. Times are tough, but you can do better than that.
4. You do not want to get free tickets to a Barney and Friends concert. You’re too old and it would be too embarrassing to go.
5. You do not want to get a card for your next dental appointment. This is ridiculous.
6. You do not want to get five cents. This is your tooth. Don’t be so cheap.
7. You do not want to get a water balloon. Just what you need, a wet bed and a soggy tooth.
8. You do not want to get a homework assignment. This is cruel. The Tooth Fairy is not suppose to be cruel.
9. You do not want to get a letter from the IRS saying that they are going to audit your Tooth Fairy money.
10. You do not want to get a tube of toothpaste. Listen Tooth Fairy, you want tens and twenties please.

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Image via Wikipedia

You just lost a tooth. Time to put your tooth under the pillow and be rewarded by the Tooth Fairy. Here are ten things that you should not want to get from the Tooth Fairy:

1. You do not want to get an IOU. Come on Tooth Fairy, deliver the goods.
2. You do not want to get a ham sandwich under your pillow. You are not amused.
3.  You do not want to get a rock. Times are tough, but you can do better than that.
4. You do not want to get free tickets to a Barney and Friends concert. You’re too old and it would be too embarrassing to go.
5. You do not want to get a card for your next dental appointment. This is ridiculous.
6. You do not want to get five cents. This is your tooth. Don’t be so cheap.
7. You do not want to get a water balloon. Just what you need, a wet bed and a soggy tooth.
8. You do not want to get a homework assignment. This is cruel. The Tooth Fairy is not suppose to be cruel.
9. You do not want to get a letter from the IRS saying that they are going to audit your Tooth Fairy money.
10. You do not want to get a tube of toothpaste. Listen Tooth Fairy, you want tens and twenties please.

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So what is a parent to do when she catches her kid in a lie when it was the parent who lied in the first place? This is not a made up story, my kid really did try to pull the wool over the tooth fairy’s eyes (aka, MY eyes!).

The afternoon began with a trip to the dentist for my daughter. She had a new tooth coming in, but the baby tooth didn’t want to abandon her mouth. So I had to take her in to get it pulled. They put it in a little envelope for her to take home so she could put it out for the tooth fairy (ya, I know, she’s 9, but she still believes). So off we go home.

I make her soup for supper, because that’s all she wants to eat after the dentist. As she’s eating, she bites down on the spoon and another tooth pops out. Two teeth in one day? That’s a first for us! So I told her she’ll probably get more money from the tooth fairy, because I don’t think that happens too often.

At bedtime, I remind her to put her teeth in the special little pillow we put out. She pulls the one out of the envelope from the dentist and sees it was one that had a colored filling in it. Well. She wanted to keep it because it looked neat. I said no. She was not happy, but proceeded to put it with the other one.

Later that night, I proceed to do my tooth fairy duties, but soon discover there is only one tooth in the pillow. Hmmmm. Well, I figure only one tooth, only one tooth’s amount of money. When she was at school that day, I found where she hid the other tooth. Now the question is do I confront her and blow the tooth fairy story?

Later that evening I asked her if the tooth fairy came. She said yes, so I asked here if she got $4 (instead of the usual $2). She nodded and said mhmmm and took off to her room. Busted! But what do I say? After all, I started the lie saying there is a tooth fairy.

(By the way, the kid in the picture isn’t mine!)

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So what is a parent to do when she catches her kid in a lie when it was the parent who lied in the first place? This is not a made up story, my kid really did try to pull the wool over the tooth fairy’s eyes (aka, MY eyes!).

The afternoon began with a trip to the dentist for my daughter. She had a new tooth coming in, but the baby tooth didn’t want to abandon her mouth. So I had to take her in to get it pulled. They put it in a little envelope for her to take home so she could put it out for the tooth fairy (ya, I know, she’s 9, but she still believes). So off we go home.

I make her soup for supper, because that’s all she wants to eat after the dentist. As she’s eating, she bites down on the spoon and another tooth pops out. Two teeth in one day? That’s a first for us! So I told her she’ll probably get more money from the tooth fairy, because I don’t think that happens too often.

At bedtime, I remind her to put her teeth in the special little pillow we put out. She pulls the one out of the envelope from the dentist and sees it was one that had a colored filling in it. Well. She wanted to keep it because it looked neat. I said no. She was not happy, but proceeded to put it with the other one.

Later that night, I proceed to do my tooth fairy duties, but soon discover there is only one tooth in the pillow. Hmmmm. Well, I figure only one tooth, only one tooth’s amount of money. When she was at school that day, I found where she hid the other tooth. Now the question is do I confront her and blow the tooth fairy story?

Later that evening I asked her if the tooth fairy came. She said yes, so I asked here if she got $4 (instead of the usual $2). She nodded and said mhmmm and took off to her room. Busted! But what do I say? After all, I started the lie saying there is a tooth fairy.

(By the way, the kid in the picture isn’t mine!)

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It’s time for your semi-annual visit to your dentist. What better way to pass the time than to read a fortune cookie saying. Here are fifteen sayings from your dentist for your amusement:

1. A smile will get you everywhere unless you have a mouth full of rotten teeth.
2. Go ahead and eat all the sweets that you like. After all, you are supporting my son’s education.
3. It is impolite to floss in front of your girlfriend.
4. It’s time that you got at the root of your problems.
5. Hey, hey, hey, you have a lot of decay.
6. You will soon get a thrill at our powerful new drill.
7. You do not get gum disease by chewing gum.
8. Brace yourself for this important message. Your daughter needs braces.
9. Getting a crown on your tooth does not make you a King.
10. You’ll never pass the kissing test if your mouth has bad breath.
11. Make haste and go out and buy some toothpaste.
12. Never pick at your teeth with a fork.
13. Green teeth are not pretty or natural unless your name is Shrek.
14. Vampires should gargle twice a day with blood after brushing their teeth.
15. The tooth fairy is not real. Deal with it!

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