Human teeth are pretty amazing, it’s true, but there are creatures in the animal kingdom who have teeth that are even more impressive. Whether you’re talking about the incredible (and seemingly endless) teeth of the Great White Shark or the incredibly long teeth of the Elephant, you’ll never stop being surprised at how many ways teeth can form. Below we’re going to introduce you to a few members of the animal kingdom who have a remarkable set of teeth and use them in interesting ways!
Giraffe Teeth
We’re going to start with Giraffe teeth in part because we have the same number of teeth as they do, 32! The differences start when you realize that they don’t have any front upper teeth, but instead have a serious set of molars in the back for grinding up vegetation.
Rabbits
Have you ever noticed that rabbits always seem to be chewing? This is because they have to keep using their teeth to make sure that they don’t grow too long. They do this by chewing on hard foods, and occasionally you’ll even catch domesticated rabbits chewing on their cages. They have to or their teeth will overgrow!
Mosquito Teeth
Did you know that mosquitoes actually have teeth? We had thought that they “bit” by stabbing us with a proboscis! This may be true, but they also have a set of 47 teeth that they use. They’re too small to see, but they’re still there!
Dolphin Rings
So this is one of the stranger things we discovered in the animal kingdom. Dolphin teeth form rings much as trees do, and you can actually tell how old they are by counting the rings they have on their teeth. We thought this was really amazing and wished that our teeth would grow new layers too!
Horses
Horses have some pretty serious teeth in their head, in part because of their grain-heavy diet. They’ve developed a set of durable, heavy teeth that can withstand the almost constant grinding they have to do to get their food chewed up enough to digest. Their teeth are so big they actually weigh more than the horse’s brain.
Cows
Have you ever noticed how dextrous cows lips seem to be? This isn’t just because they’re the only ‘hand’ they really have, its also because they use them to ‘cut’ the grass that they eat! They don’t have sharp cutting teeth as we do, instead, they have a whole mouth full of grinding teeth to process grass and other tough food.
These are just some of the more incredible teeth that you can find in the animal kingdom, but it demonstrates the importance of our teeth. Many animals have teeth that are specifically developed to handle their environment and their diets, just like us. If you want to learn more about your teeth make an appointment at the Alvarado Family Dental Center in Walnut Park, CA. Dr. Alireza Movassaghi has been helping patients like you learn more about their teeth and oral hygiene so that your teeth can stay with you for years.