EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -Your teeth can indicate facets of your recent ancestry and may even provide information about the long dead evolutionary past. That’s why knowing more about teeth and how they develop and grow is valuable for people other than your dentist.

Detailed explanation-2: -Odontodes, the ancestors of teeth, looked like placoid scales of recent sharks. Odontodes consisted of a dentine cone with a pulp cavity and covered by a hypermineralized tissue like enamel or enameloid. They were attached to the integument by a bony base.

Detailed explanation-3: -Almost every aspect of your oral health is affected to a degree by your genes; the size and shape of your mouth, and bone structure is inherited. Crooked teeth are usually passed down from generation to generation, but the bad oral care habits of previous generations do not cause you to have bad teeth.

Detailed explanation-4: -Forensic dentists can determine race within the three major groups: Caucasoid, Mongoloid, and Negroid. Additional characteristics of teeth, such as cusps of Carabelli, shovel-shaped incisors, and multicusped premolars, can also assist in the determination of ancestry.