Did You Know? Fun Facts About Animal Teeth - Wilson Orthodontics (2024)

FAQs

Which animal has 32 teeth? ›

Giraffes are the only animals that have 32 teeth like humans. Dogs are the only animal that have a primary set and a permanent set of teeth like humans. Lobsters and crabs have teeth in their stomachs to aid in chewing their food. Snails can have around 25,000 teeth over their lifetime.

Cats: Have 30 teeth as adults with similar to humans with four molars, 10 premolars, four cuspids and 12 incisor teeth.

In a lifetime, sharks can go through 25,000 to 35,000 teeth!

1. Nile crocodile (5,000psi) Even though Nile crocodiles are smaller than saltwater crocodiles, they come in at the top of the charts for the most powerful bite. Aggressive and extremely territorial, they put their powerful bite to good use.

A fish called the Pacific lingcod has one of nature's toothiest mouths, with about 555 teeth lining its two sets of jaws.

On land the mammal with the most teeth is the Giant Armadillo, which can have as many 100 teeth in its jaws. In the oceans the Spinner Dolphin can have as many as 252 teeth in its long thin jaws.

More surprising was the number of enamel-covered teeth, 1,000 of them, that Nigersaurus would use to eat its vegetarian diet. The tiny teeth are in "batteries", side by side, like soldiers on parade.

Snails: Even though their mouths are no larger than the head of a pin, they can have over 25,000 teeth over a lifetime – which are located on the tongue and continually lost and replaced like a shark!

Alligators grow a successional tooth (a small replacement tooth) under each mature functional tooth for replacement once a year, each tooth being replaced up to 50 times in the alligator's life. Crocodilia are researched for tooth regeneration in humans.

Sharks do not rely on two sets of teeth – they have an endless supply of teeth, with a dentition that regenerates constantly throughout life.

What animal has no teeth? ›

Birds. Probably the most famous toothless animal, birds swallow their food whole and depend on the gizzard in their stomachs to help them digest their food. The gizzard is an organ that grinds food down with the help of small stones and other particles.

Behind every piece of ivory—whether it be a full tusk or carved trinket—is a dead elephant. Poachers kill about 20,000 elephants every single year for their tusks, which are then traded illegally in the international market to eventually end up as ivory trinkets.

5. Rabbits, squirrels, and rodents have teeth that never stop growing. They have to chew on tough foods like nuts, leaves, and bark to wear down their teeth and keep them from growing too long.

Not the case. Sharks may have the healthiest teeth in the animal kingdom, it turns out. Scientists just found that their pearly whites contain fluoride, the active ingredient in most toothpastes and mouthwashes.

The Hardest Teeth

The hardest substance ever discovered in nature is the tooth of a limpet (sea snail). They have a tensile strength between 3 and 6.5 gigapascals, breaking the previous record of spider silk at 1.3 GPa. Limpets need super hard teeth in order to chew the algae off of hard rocks.

Leech: The interior structure of a leech is divided into 32 different segments, each of which has its own brain.

Alligators and Crocodiles

An adult alligator has between 74 and 84 teeth in its mouth. Alligator teeth aren't very sharp so they have to bite down very hard to make up for it. If an alligator loses a tooth, a new one will take its place—producing up to 3,000 teeth in a lifetime!

How many teeth do adults have? Most adults have 32 teeth, which is 12 teeth more than children! Among these 32 teeth are 8 incisors, 4 canines, 8 premolars, and 12 molars, including 4 wisdom teeth.

Like bears, procyonids walk on the soles of the feet (plantigrade locomotion), leaving clear imprints of the paw pad and all digits. Procyonids have 40 teeth, with long canine teeth and small, sharp premolars; the molars are broad.