Not all bodies are the same.
Our immune systems may actually help create cavities, a new study finds
Is this mutiny?!
Fossil Friday: Newly-found fossil teeth solve ancient monkey mystery
Take a bite out of this story.
Megalodon’s teeth evolved over 12 millions years, researchers find
This is not the Nemo you’re looking for.
Mammals’ evolutionary success relied on our ancestors growing very tiny
Sometimes it pays to be the smallest fish in the pond.
One of our extinct ancient relatives developed a chewing pattern unique among primates
We don’t know why they did so.
Early baleen whales were fearsome predators with wicked teeth, but lost them entirely
Baleen, one surprising fossil suggests, evolved from gums rather than teeth.
What causes cavities and how to spot tooth decay
How long has it been since your last checkup?
How tooth wear sheds light on the predatory lives of dinosaurs
Not all dino teeth are made the same…
The first hominids might have evolved in Europe, fossil jaw suggests
Emphasis on might.
World’s oldest fillings come from the stone age and they’re basically asphalt
Sink your teeth into this story.
An Alzheimer’s drug could become the unlikely replacer of fillings
No more of that awful drilling in your teeth.
Using tools to process raw meat may have altered the course of human evolution
Imagine spending half of your day chewing food like our cousins, the chimpanzees. You’d never get anything done. Strikingly, human teeth have evolved to become smaller over the past million years or so. This begs the question: how did we become such efficient eaters? There are two answers. For one, human ancestors started eating higher quality food (meat) and, secondly, they employed food processing. By applying tool use to anything outside slicing and cutting meat, these early ancestors may have opened the flood gates of innovation.
Challenging the “Out of Africa” theory, one tooth at a time
Recent fossils unearthed in the Chinese province of Daoxian come to unravel the story of humanity’s spread as we know it today. The find consists of 47 teeth, belonging to modern humans, but what’s really important is their age – they have been dated to 80,000 years ago. This number doesn’t fit with the “Out of Africa” migration theory, holding that humans originate and have spread from the horn of the continent all around the world. The theory as we know it can’t explain human presence in the area for another 20,000 years.
Artificial tooth is as good as the real deal
Fewer materials in nature rival the toughness and resilience of a tooth or a seashell, and it’s all due to their unique structure; viewed under powerful enough microscope, they reveal layers upon layers of micro-plates, perfectly aligned and fused together. Material scientists have long sought to produce something that imitates these structures, with comparable properties and complexity, but apart from nacre (mother-of-pearl) they’ve had very little success. Until now.
14,000-year-old molar gives us oldest proof of dentistry, and will make you love your dentist’s drill
Just as today -or a little less often, as we tend to abuse our teeth quite a bit nowadyas – early humans had to deal with cavities. An infected 14,000 year old molar may give us a glimpse into how they treated such afflictions, and is the oldest known evidence of dentistry.
Dentists will soon be able to 3D print you a new tooth in minutes
With the advancements in 3D printing, it only seems like a matter of time until it starts to actively affect our lives. Especially prosthetics may be revolutionized by 3D printing, as we’ve already seen time and time again. Now, a group of dentists believe they can 3D print teeth using a simple and cheap technique, only taking a few minutes for it.
Chewing gun removes up to 100 million bacteria from your mouth – but only if it’s sugar free
A new study has found that chewing gum is actually effective at cleaning your mouth of bacteria – but only if the gum is sugar free. If the gum has sugar, it actually feeds the bacteria even more.
Microbial tomb discovered in 1,000 year-old human teeth
An international team of scientists believe they have across the “microbial Pompeii” after they found preserved bacteria and microscopic particles of food on the surface of teeth more than 1,000 years old. The findings were made after the dental calculus or plaque that covered the ancient teeth was analyzed. Some very important discoveries were made in the process: ancient oral bacteria had already by
What Is Gum Disease And How Do You Treat It?
Gum disease is a common problem and its symptoms are unpleasant, for example swollen and sore gums. When you brush your teeth you could be spitting out a little blood. Your breath might be less than fresh and you may suffer minor aches and stinging. But thankfully gum disease, known to dentists as gingivitis or periodontal disease, is pretty easy to
