Reading Comprehension/Dental Health
Name: ______________________________ Date: __________________________
Terrific Teeth
You weren’t born with them, and you lose the first ones you get. But if you
take good care of them, you will have them for the rest of your life! Can you guess
what they are? They’re your teeth! How much do you know about your teeth?
Let’s look at all the parts of your tooth to start with. Look at your smile in the
mirror. You will see two neat little rows of teeth sitting in some pink stuff. The pink
stuff is called your gums (or gingiva). Part of keeping your teeth healthy is keeping
your gums healthy. The part of your tooth that sits below your gums is called the
root. The part of the tooth that you can see is the crown.
Your tooth is made up of several layers.
The first or outermost layer is called the enamel.
Dentin
Enamel is usually white and is very strong. In fact,
Enamel
enamel is the hardest part of your entire body!
Pulp
Underneath the enamel is the dentin. Most of the
Gum
tooth is made up of dentin. Dentin is a lot like bone
Bone
and is also very hard. The enamel and dentin both
help to protect the innermost layer of your tooth,
called the pulp. The nerve endings and blood
Periodontal Membrane
vessels in your tooth are found inside the pulp.
The nerve endings in the pulp send messages
Cementum
back to the brain, and the blood vessels bring
oxygen and nutrients to keep the tooth healthy.
Covering the root of the tooth is a layer called
cementum. Cementum helps the root stay in the jawbone. There is one more layer
between the cementum and the bone. This is the periodontal membrane. This layer
acts as a cushion for the tooth to sit snugly in the bone.
Not all of your teeth are the same. Look at your teeth again in the mirror, or
look at your friend’s teeth. There are four different types of teeth. Can you see them
all? Your front teeth are called incisors. They are very sharp. They are meant for
cutting food. The more pointed teeth at the corners of your mouth are your cuspids
(or canines). Cuspids have a sharp pointed tip, and are meant for tearing food.
Moving towards the back of your mouth you will find the premolars and molars.
Premolars are immediately behind the canines. Unlike the incisors and canines,
premolars have a flat surface. Their job is to crush food. Finally, behind the
premolars, at the back of your mouth, are the molars. The molars are bigger than
the premolars, and they have a bigger flat surface as well. It is their job to crush,
grind and mash the food you eat into little tiny pieces ready to be swallowed.
Teeth change as you grow. When you are born, you haven’t got any teeth.
But by the time you are about 6 months old, and ready to eat solid foods, teeth start
to appear. Teeth continue to come in, and most small children have all of their baby
teeth (20 in total) by the time they are about 2 ½ years old. When you are about 6
years old you begin to get your adult teeth. Your baby teeth fall out, and as they do
they are replaced with adult teeth. Do you remember what tooth fell out first? It was
probably one of your bottom front incisors. After you have lost all of your baby teeth,
and your adult teeth have come in, you should have 28 teeth. That’s not all, though!
When you are about 20 you start to get 4 more teeth, which are your wisdom teeth.
The complete adult set of teeth has 32 teeth.
©2005abcteach.com
Reading Comprehension/Dental Health
Name: ______________________________ Date: __________________________
Answer the following questions about teeth.
1.
When you look at your mouth in the mirror, what parts of your tooth can you
see, and what are your teeth sitting in?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
2.
What is special about the white covering of your tooth?
______________________________________________________________
3.
What do you think the purpose of enamel is?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
4.
Label the tooth diagram.
5.
What is inside the pulp?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
6.
What does cementum help to do?
______________________________________________________________
7.
What are the four different types of teeth, and what is the purpose of each?
a) _________________________________________________________
b) _________________________________________________________
c) _________________________________________________________
d) _________________________________________________________
8.
About how old are you when you get your first tooth? How old are you when
you get your first adult tooth?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
©2005abcteach.com
Reading Comprehension/Dental Health
Answers to teeth.
1. You can see the crown of your tooth, covered by enamel. Your teeth are
sitting in your gums (gingiva).
2. The white covering of your tooth is the hardest substance in your body.
3. The purpose of enamel is to protect the inside of your tooth, the pulp.
4.
Dentin
Enamel
Pulp
Gum
Bone
Periodontal Membrane
Cementum
5. Inside the pulp are nerve endings and blood vessels.
6. Cementum helps to anchor the tooth in the jawbone.
7. a) incisors – very sharp; meant for cutting food
b) cuspids (canines) – sharp, pointed tip; meant for tearing food
c) premolars – flat surface; used to crush food
e) molars – bigger than premolars with flat surface; used to crush, grind and
mash food before swallowing
8. At about 6 months you get your first baby tooth, and at about 6 years old your
first adult tooth comes in.
©2005abcteach.com