What are teeth? Teeth are the hard parts sticking out of our jaws that we use to cut, tear and crush food before swallowing it.

Teeth (white) and gums (pink). The thin coloured lines are nerves. The outer coating is called enamel. That is the surface we see. Below it is softer material called dentine. Dentine is yellow, and can often be see through the enamel, as enamel is translucent. The thinner the enamel, the more yellow teeth can look. Below the dentine is a soft material called pulp that surrounds the nerve. As people get older, so the dentine continues to grow and thicken, and the pulp gets smaller. That is why it is easier to do fillings on older people than on children. Elephant ivory is solid dentine.

Teeth are found in the mouths of most animals. Teeth are made of the hard, whitish part you can see, together with roots, which are at least as big. The roots are covered by the gums.

Teeth are quite different from bone, the main hard materials in our bodies. In fact they are made of many layers of several materials. Scientists group teeth as 'made of tissues'.

Teeth are used to pull pieces of food apart and then crush them down so they can be swallowed. Teeth can also be used for protection. Dogs, for example, use their teeth in this way.

They are chisel-shaped or pointed at the front, while at the back they are broader and flatter, shaped more like tenderisers, and are used for grinding down food.

Human teeth do not repair themselves in the same way as bones, which is why they have to be repaired artificially by dentists. However, in some other animals, like beavers, teeth keep growing throughout their lives.

Different animals have different kinds of teeth. Hunting animals have more pointed teeth for holding on to prey, whereas grazing animals do not need to pull food apart, but need to spend far more time just grinding plant materials, so they have more flat-topped teeth.

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Teeth