Types Of Teeth And Their Functions

Teeth, tear crush and grind our food for easier digestion, they are in four different shapes and perform four different functions.

Teeth grow in two stages, the early teeth or milk teeth start developing before birth, during the 5th month of pregnancy, however, the first teeth emerge around 6 months post birth.

This first set of teeth is complete by the second birthday and stay for 6 to 7 years. The second set of teeth or adult teeth start emerging around 7 years of age. They are larger and are 32 in number when the set is complete.

There are following types of teeth in a set, incisors, canines, premolars and molars.

Incisors:

Incisors are the first teeth to emerge in both babies and adults. They make up the 8 front teeth, four on top and four on the bottom.

Function:

The function of incisors is to bite and cut the food.

Canines:

Canines develop next to incisors in the mouth, they are very sharp to tear food, they are especially developed in carnivorous animals.

Canines are four in number 2 on top and two on the bottom.

Function:

Canines are sharp dagger-like teeth they are used to rip and tear the food.

Premolars:

Premolars have a flat surface, they are next to the canines in an adult set of teeth, they don't appear until a person reaches age ten. There are four on each side of the jaw, 2 on the upper jaw and two on the lower jaw.

Functions:

Premolars are used to tear, grind and crush food into smaller bits.

Molars:

Molars are the largest teeth in our mouth; their primary function is to help you chew your food. Molars are of three types, primary molars, permanent molars and third molars based on the age at which they erupt in the mouth.

Primary molars:

Primary molars or deciduous molars are only present in the set of milk teeth, they appear in the age from 12 to 28 months. They have a flat biting surface. In the adult set of teeth they are replaced by premolars in the mouth.

Permanent Molars:

There are eight molars in an adult set of teeth, four upper and four lower, on both sides of jaw. They don't replace any baby teeth, instead they appear further back in the mouth as the jaw grows with age.

Third Molars:

Third molars are also known as Wisdom teeth, they are last teeth to appear in the mouth.

Third molars usually start to appear in the late teens and they can appear as late as 30 years in some people. While some may never have wisdom teeth.

Sometimes there are many problems associated with wisdom teeth, they may cause crowding in the mouth, sometimes it appears partially to give rise to many complications in the mouth and jawbone, therefore some dentists recommend removing it in younger years while some wait to see if occurs before removing them.

Function:

The essential function of molars is chewing. They grind and crush food to make it more digestible.