Did You Know?

Interesting Facts about Teeth and Dentistry

  • The average American spends 38.5 total days brushing their teeth over a lifetime.
  • People who drink 3 or more glasses of soda each day have 62% more tooth decay, fillings and tooth loss than others. Put down the pop and sports drinks and pick up some nice fresh water instead.
  • Tooth enamel is the hardest substance in the human body. However, we do not recommend that you use your pearly whites to open bottle caps!
  • If you don’t floss, you miss cleaning 40% of your tooth surfaces. Make sure you brush and floss twice a day!
  • If you're right handed, you will chew your food on your right side. If you're left handed, you will tend to chew your food on your left side.
  • Every year, kids in North America spend close to half a million dollars on chewing gum.
  • More people use blue toothbrushes than red ones.
  • Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different
  • The average woman smiles 62 times a day. The average man smiles about 8 times a day.
  • Kids laugh around 400 times a day, adults just 15 times a day.
  • Giraffes only have bottom teeth.
  • Just like finger prints, tooth prints are unique to each individual.
  • The average person only brushes for 45 to 70 seconds a day, the recommended amount of time is 2-3 minutes.
  • 78% of Americans have had at least 1 cavity by age 17.
  • 1882 was the year commercial floss was first manufactured.
  • The most valuable tooth belonged to Sir Isaac Newton. In 1816 one of his teeth was sold in London for $3,633, or in today's terms $35,700. The tooth was set in a ring! (source: Guinness World Records 2002).
  • More than 300 types of bacteria make up dental plaque.
  • Dogs have 42 teeth, cats have 30 teeth, pigs have 44 teeth, and an armadillo has 104 teeth.
  • A snail's mouth is no larger than the head of a pin, but it can have over 25,000 teeth!
  • The elephant grinds its molars and grows new ones. This happens six times in a lifetime! An elephant's molar is about 7 inches square and can weigh over 6 pounds
  • The Blue Whale is the largest mammal on earth, but it eats only tiny shrimp because it has no teeth.
  • The Crocodile Bird flies into the open mouth of a crocodile and cleans the crocodile's teeth!
  • There are 10-12 teaspoons of sugar in a single can of soda.

Interesting Facts about Dental History

  • In 1866, Lucy Beaman Hobbs became the first licensed female dentist.
  • In 1986, the winner of the National Spelling Bee won by spelling ODONTALGIA (which means toothache)
  • The average amount of money left by the tooth fairy in 1950 was 25 cents. In 1988 it was $1.00, the going rate now is $2.00.
  • The earliest dentist known by name is Hesi-Re. He lived in Egypt over 5,000 years ago.
  • The first toothbrushes were tree twigs. Chewing on the tips of the twigs spread out the fibers, which were then used to clean the teeth.
  • Ancient Greeks used pumice, talc, alabaster, coral powder or iron rust as toothpaste.
  • George Washington never had wooden teeth. His dentures were made from gold, hippopotamus tusk, elephant ivory and human teeth!
  • In 1905, Dental Assistant Irene Newman was trained to clean teeth. She became the first Dental Hygienist.

* Note: All facts and jokes have been gathered from different internet sources.

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CDC UPDATE

As we continue to adapt to the changing nature of Covid-19, our office routinely monitors the Community Level of Covid-19 as part of CDC public indoor guidance/safety protocols. Currently, our community level is LOW, which means masks are welcome but not required in our office. If you or your child are at severe risk for illness from Covid-19, we encourage you to wear a mask in all public indoor areas, per CDC guidelines. As we continue to monitor our local levels, we will require indoor masking in our office if our local level is upgraded to HIGH.

Children’s Dental Village team members will continue to adhere to Covid-19 safety protocols. The health and safety of our patients and families is our top priority and the clinical team will continue wearing all proper personal protective equipment. Thank you for your continued patience and understanding.