Here's a Child's Skull, Showing Their Baby Teeth With The Adult Teeth Above them!

  • emizeko [they/them]
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    edit-2
    3 years ago

    tooth enamel is the hardest part of the body, probably why it can't grow (I don't think enamel has any living cells in it), and under that they're made of dentin not keratin (or whatever bone is) which is less hard but still harder/denser than keratin and bone

    that was from the top of my head but wikipedia confirms:

    Enamel is the hardest substance in the human body and contains the highest percentage of minerals (at 96%), with water and organic material composing the rest. The primary mineral is hydroxyapatite, which is a crystalline calcium phosphate. Enamel is formed on the tooth while the tooth develops within the jaw bone before it erupts into the mouth. Once fully formed, enamel does not contain blood vessels or nerves, and is not made of cells. Remineralisation of teeth can repair damage to the tooth to a certain degree but damage beyond that cannot be repaired by the body.

    • ClimateChangeAnxiety [he/him, they/them]
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      edit-2
      3 years ago

      Ah yes, and interestingly while bones are living tissue mostly made out of cells, teeth aren’t. They’re basically just small fancy rocks attached to our mouths. The fact that they aren’t made of cells is crazy to me

      • SoyViking [he/him]
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        3 years ago

        Small fancy rocks that will bankrupt you if anything goes wrong with them.