Everyone knows why animals need teeth. Big and strong teeth are the key to a successful hunt for predators, a way to get food for elephants, and for some animals it is also a decoration to attract females. Large units in humans - macrodentia - a rare phenomenon. We will talk about the largest teeth in animals and humans in this article.
Amazing Narwhal Tooth
In the animal world there are many amazing teeth. But we will tell only about the largest tooth among modern representatives of the fauna.
The first place in the size of the teeth, or rather, just one tooth, is occupied by a marine mammal of the cetacean family of narwhal. This inhabitant of the northern waters of the Arctic and Atlantic oceans bears the proud name of a sea unicorn. These whales reach impressive sizes - up to 4 meters in length, and the male weighs up to 1.5 tons.
Interestingly, they have only two teeth. At the same time, the left one develops in them in a spirally twisted tusk up to 3 meters long and weighing 10 kilograms, and the right one is underdeveloped. The purpose of this massive device and today raises many questions among zoologists. This is not an instrument of defense or attack, it does not serve to pierce ice. It is assumed that this is the sensitive organ of the narwhal - because it is penetrated by many tubes, inside which there are nerve endings.
Teeth pacu
This freshwater fish that lives in the tributaries of the Amazon, is certainly not a relative of man. But her teeth are surprisingly similar to ours.
Interestingly, pacu is a close relative of the predatory piranha, whose teeth resemble sharp razors. And although paku is not so aggressive and feeds mainly on plant foods, in the Scottish park “Edinburgh World of Butterflies and Insects” in the pavilion “Sea Depths” she bit her finger to the zoologist.
The evolution of our teeth
The teeth of our ancestors, who lived 100 thousand years ago, were twice as large as the average teeth of a modern person. This was due to biological necessity - coarse plant foods and raw meat required just such a chewing apparatus.
Over time, human teeth decreased, according to anthropologists, by 1% every thousand years. In addition, they not only became smaller, but also changed their purpose. We have the largest tooth - the first molar in the upper jaw. Fangs lost their food retention function and also decreased. But the third molars (wisdom teeth) generally do not grow in all people.
Big teeth in humans - the norm or pathology?
The size of the teeth in most cases is determined genetically. If a child inherits the elongated and large crowns of one parent and the small size of the jaw of another, then its units may seem disproportionate. Moreover, if large teeth do not lead to displacement, torsion, growth retardation of other units, speech defects or other problems, this is not a pathology. In addition, tall people and teeth are usually larger. Large molars are more common in children - after all, enamel tends to wear off with age.
The condition when abnormally large units appear in a person is called macrodentia in dentistry. This pathology is hereditary and develops with the fusion of two tooth follicles.
When can this be a problem?
If large teeth do not have enough room for growth, then they twist, go beyond the borders of the dentition. This leads to the formation of a malocclusion, which is no longer as harmless as the unaesthetic smile. Violations of the bite lead to disturbances in the digestive system.
Sometimes teeth can grow with gum disease - this is a serious pathology that leads to the development of cervical caries and tooth loss.
Big teeth can cause speech defects, and if psychological problems are added to this, the person becomes uncommunicative, closed, constrained. And this is a direct path to depressive states.
Big or not?
How to determine that the teeth are large? Dentists have developed relative dental standards for the average European. The central upper incisors normally have a length of 9-13 mm, and the lateral incisors are 2 mm shorter. The ratio of the width to the height of the tooth is normal - 1.25%.
A person is diagnosed with macrodentia if the size of the dental crowns exceeds the norm by 1.5 times. At the same time, large baby teeth in a child are an occasion to consult a dentist and check the tooth follicles for their fusion.
Correction Methods
Modern dentistry offers several ways to solve the problem of large teeth. What to do and if there is a need for this, only a professional doctor will tell the patient - a dentist or orthodontist. The following methods will help to correct the size of the teeth:
- Grinding with a special machine can grind enamel and give the teeth an optimal size and shape.
- If necessary, teeth correction with restoration with a modern composite is possible.
- If you can’t grind your teeth, you can build neighboring teeth using ceramic pads (veneers, lumineers).
- In some cases, large teeth are just the consequences of a malocclusion. This is adjusted by braces.
- In extreme cases, you can resort to tooth extraction and replacing it with an implant of the desired size.
Sometimes it's beautiful
Large and healthy teeth give a person a more youthful appearance. Aesthetic features often become a hallmark and a sign of individuality.
Hilary Swank (pictured), Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway would have become so popular if their smile was “like everyone else” - it is she who gives them that piquancy and charm for which fans love them so much.
So before you make yourself a standard smile, think - maybe it’s your imperfect teeth that are the highlight of your appearance and make you unlike the rest.
In pursuit of unusual
But some people want to stand out so much that they take extreme measures. Popular in the last decade, fangs, like vampires, have become part of a certain subculture.
One of the cosmetic rejuvenation procedures, for example, involves building molars. This changes the bite, lengthens the face and leads to a visible decrease in nasolabial folds and correction of the contour of the face.
But the Chinese little boy Wang Penfei such vampire fangs did not bring joy. In 2012, his fangs grew, and growth slowed down. The boy became reserved and aggressive with peers who were whispering behind him.
The longest fang - 36.7 mm - was removed from an 18-year-old Indian in 2017. It turned out to be 4.7 mm longer than what has already been entered in the Guinness Book of Records. For comparison: the average human canine size is 20 mm.
Amazing teeth
Teeth may not only be large, but there may be many, or they may not be at all where they should be.
So, the 17-year-old Ashik Hawai (India), who suffered from a rare pathology - odontoma, fell into the Guinness Book of Records. These are benign formations of 232 teeth. All the extra teeth were removed, because they could lead to problems with swallowing, digestion and swelling of the face.
But in the state of Maryland (USA), a tooth was found in a brain in a 4-month-old child. The strange arrangement was caused by pathology of embryonic development and led to the formation of a tumor. She was removed, and the child feels fine.
At Stephen Hirst (Great Britain), the tooth began to grow at 47 years old, and not in the mouth, but in the ear. And today it remains a medical mystery how the tooth follicle was in such a place and what stimulated its growth.
Everyone knows that children are born without teeth. But here is another record holder from the Guinness Book of Records - Marta Matoni from Kenya. In 2010, she gave birth to a son with a complete set of milk teeth - all 28 teeth were already present in the boy’s mouth.