Re: RE: teeth

Dear Roo:

The part of the tooth that you see when someone smiles at you is called 
the "crown." The legs of the crown, that you don't see because they 
are sitting in a bony housing are called the "roots." Some teeth have 
only one root, whereas other teeth may have two or three roots (although 
occasionally you'll see a tooth with four roots (very unusual). When a 
dentist extract the tooh of an adult, you can see both the crown and the 
root. The place where the crown meets the root is the "neck" of the tooth.

When kids lose their teeth, the smaller deciduous (milk teeth) teeth are
replaced by larger "permanent teeth." As the permanent teeth grow from 
below the gums special cells (known as "odontoclasts") resorb (remove 
piecemeal) the roots of the deciduous teeth. That is why you do not see
the roots of the teeth that you lose as a child.

I hope this helps.


Leslie Gartner, Ph.D.
Associate Professor