Is it true that dental health is related to your overall well-being? Do identical twins have the same dental fingerprints? And is teeth regrowth for adults still possible? Read the trivia facts that follow to find out!

• Teeth are the hardest substance in the human body; therefore they are the part most often fossilized.
• According to research studies, regular dental cleanings can help prevent heart attacks. On the other hand, people with moderate or advanced gum disease are more likely to have heart disease.
• Teeth in a growing fetus begin to develop only six weeks after conception.
• Next to the common cold, tooth decay remains the most prevalent disease in the US, even though a third of all youngsters between the ages of 5 and 17 are cavity-free.
• Most tooth loss in people over age 35 is due to periodontal disease.
• If you don’t floss, you miss cleaning 35% of your tooth surfaces.
• A tooth that has been knocked out starts to die within 15 minutes, but if you put it in milk or hold it in your mouth it will survive longer.
• Tooth decay is actually classified as an infectious disease because it is caused by a particular strain of bacteria passed between multiple people.
• Every person has a set of teeth as unique as his or her fingerprints. Even the dental fingerprints of identical twins are different. That is why Forensic Dentistry is also an integral part of most CSI departments.
• The earliest record of tooth decay was described by the Sumerians as “tooth worms.”
• Around 2700 BC, Chinese acupuncture was used to treat tooth pain.
• In the British Isles, dentures were common wedding gifts because many people expected to eventually lose all of their teeth and expedited the process by having them extracted at an early age.
• Unlike bones or other parts of the body, teeth are incapable of self-repair. This is why receiving fillings and other dental work is necessary to protect teeth from further damage. However, teeth also contain stem cells. Some researchers are using these dental stem cells to regrow human teeth. If successful, this technology would mean we can biologically replace lost adult teeth for the first time in history.

To know more about your teeth and how you can better take care of them, visit Union Hills Family Dentistry at Glendale, AZ today. Equipped with a state-of-the-art facility and years of experience, we offer comprehensive dental services for you and your family at affordable prices.