Human Teeth vs Animal Teeth information Blog woman with two dogs

Of Mice & Men’s Teeth

Did you know that George Washington had dentures made of a mix of animal & human teeth? The Founding Father, like many others of his time, suffered from poor dental hygiene & by the time he took office in his late 50s, all but one of his teeth were fake. Unlike modern dentures though, Washington’s dentures were painful & comprised of teeth from a variety of sources: teeth from his slaves, filed down cow & horse teeth & ivory from elephants & hippopotamuses.

But just how similar are human teeth to animal teeth?

Turns out the answer, like many things in life, is that it depends!

You Are What You Eat

The type of teeth that an animal has varies depending on what they eat.

Herbivores, like cows & horses, have incisors to tear their plant food, but they mainly rely on their molars to grind & chew. Plants are typically more difficult to break down, so not only do herbivores tend to have more molars than we do, but their molars are also wider & flatter to make it easier to grind their food up for digestion.

On the flip side, carnivores, like wolves & lions, rely primarily on their teeth to hunt & tear meat. While herbivores have flat molars, carnivores have very sharp molars & canines— much longer & sharper than humans. Their teeth are also meant for grabbing, holding & tearing rather than chewing because they tend to swallow their prey in chunks.

Omnivores, like humans & squirrels, have a moderate mix of sharp front teeth & flatter back molars because we eat a varied combination of meats & plants. Omnivores have sharp front incisors & canines for cutting & tearing through meat & nuts but also flattened molars for crushing & grinding fruits & vegetables.

Uniquely Human

Our teeth may be the most similar to other omnivores, but there are still a few key differences that make human teeth unique in their own way.

The main factors that separate human teeth from animal ones are quantity & care.

Humans get two sets of teeth in our lives—our baby set & our adult set. Many animals only get one set throughout their lives, but some animals, like elephants & kangaroos, get multiple sets of replacements. Stranger still are rodents & rabbits whose teeth grow continuously & are simply kept at normal lengths by consistent gnawing.

Of our two sets of teeth, humans have up to 32 teeth per set, but dolphins can have up to 260 teeth & snails surprisingly take the top spot at a whopping 25,000 microscopic teeth.

Humans also need to regularly get their teeth cleaned to maintain good oral hygiene whereas animals do not. This is mainly due to the fact that animals mainly consume naturally occurring prey & plants in the wild & chew on sticks or bones as a form of floss to clear food particles.

In contrast, much of the human diet consists of processed foods & refined sugars that can easily stick to teeth & lead to tooth decay.

However, it is noteworthy that domesticated animals & pets would also benefit from regular cleanings because their diets & lifestyles are not the same as their wild counterparts.

Fit for the Job

With all that said, human teeth are definitely not interchangeable with animal teeth & part of the pain that came from Washington’s ill-fitting dentures was likely related to the fact that his were partly comprised of animal teeth. Fortunately for us, dental research has made leaps in progress since the 18th century. With today’s technology, well-fitted dental dentures can look & feel just like real teeth. If interested, contact your local dentist for more details to see if dentures are right for you.

 

Sources:

https://affiliateddentists.com/info/animal-teeth/

https://www.miamicosmeticdentalcare.com/teeth-herbivores-carnivores-omnivores

https://dentistinodenton.com/animal-replacement-teeth/

https://www.ltsmiles.com/a-quick-look-at-the-animals-with-the-most-teeth/

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