15 Reasons Why Teeth Are Important

Since your smile is one of the first things people notice about you, keeping pearly white teeth for a smile and a healthy mouth is extremely important.

Teeth are one of the distinctive physical characteristics any person has. Many spare their time and money to improve them. Brush up on your dental hygiene with us today and find 15 reasons why teeth are important.

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15 Benefits Of Teeth Making Dental Hygiene Crucial For Everyone

Teeth are important to maintain a healthy mouth and make sure you can chew food without pain. The gums around the teeth also help prevent diseases, like tooth decay. They determine our appearance too.

1. Teeth Help To Chew Food

Teeth help you to chew food so that it is small enough to swallow easily and can also be broken down.

Foods high in sugar are bad for your teeth since they cause tooth decay. Once the bacteria in your mouth feed on these foods, they release acid as a waste product and this causes cavities. The enzymes in saliva help to break down food, which makes it easier for you to digest.

Why Teeth Are Important - Benefits And Significance Of Teeth In Our Bodies

2. Teeth Aid In Digestion

Teeth help in mastication – the act of chewing, which makes food easier for you to digest. The enzymes in saliva help you to digest food, making it easier for you to swallow and break down.

The more you chew food the longer it stays in contact with your teeth, leading to greater breakdown by salivary enzymes. This is how food is broken down through the stomach – the digestion!

The hard surfaces of your teeth and the enamel that covers them make them more suited to all swallowing activities, therefore making the digestion process more efficient.

3. Teeth Impact Your Facial Features

The shape of the face is determined by the teeth. The upper and lower jaws are formed in early childhood with each tooth that erupts through the gums, which determines how prominent your features are.

Poor dental hygiene results in discolored or crooked teeth and creates a negative impact on your appearance. It can even make you look older!

4. Teeth Can Help To Look Attractive

Beautiful white teeth are an important contributor to looking attractive and this is just as important today as it was in the past. Our smiles and teeth affect how attractive we look to people. In one study, a model’s teeth were changed digitally and shown to a group of people. The group’s perception of the model decreased as her teeth became more yellow.

Many people invest time and money into improving their smile either to look more attractive or to improve their confidence. A confident smile can allow you to take on new challenges and approach social situations with a positive outlook. Hence teeth boost your look too.

5. Teeth Influence Your Confidence

Everyone struggles with their impression to some extent. Unsurprisingly, it is difficult for people with missing or decaying teeth to feel positive about themselves which can lead to a lack of confidence and depression. Your teeth’ appearance can be a big contributor to anxiety. According to the American Dental Association, 30% of kids refrain from smiling because they are self-conscious.

Psychologists have identified that most people’s confidence rises and falls according to the state of their teeth. According to a survey, 60% of adults feel that having healthy teeth is important for self-confidence.

6. Teeth Help In Speech

Cavities and missing teeth can lead to speech problems. Missing teeth do not just affect how you look, they can also impact your confidence when speaking too.

Misaligned teeth can create difficulty in speaking. It also influences language development. This is one of the reasons why dentists urge parents to focus on good dental hygiene for their young children.

7. Teeth Are Strong

The enamel that protects your teeth is the hardest part of your body. Mostly composed of calcium and phosphate, it is stronger than your bones because of the specific proteins and crystallites.

Teeth provide support to certain parts of the face, especially the jawbone by strengthening it every time you eat or speak. Our teeth are extremely strong. They can endure a large amount of force without any trouble at all. When you chew on something hard, the forces involved are about 5-6 times your body weight!

About a third of each tooth is underneath your gums. This is why keeping your gums healthy is as important as making sure your teeth are well cared for. Your gums should always be pink in color and firm.

8. Healthy Teeth Increase Life Expectancy

Poor oral hygiene can cause several health problems that can affect life expectancy. Gum disease, for example, has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease. This is because the bacteria in your mouth attach themselves to plaques on your arteries and the decay process releases toxins into your system.

According to a study, individuals with all of their natural teeth at the age of 74 are far more likely to live to 100 than those who had lost five or more teeth by the age of 65.

9. Teeth Affect Brain Health

There is a link between brain health and oral health. People are 70% less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than people who don’t suffer from gum problems. The studies support the theory by evaluating that bacteria in the mouth may travel via the circulation to the brain.

There’s also a link between poor dental health and mental health problems such as depression. This may be since individuals who have mental health issues find it difficult to maintain dental hygiene practices.

10. Teeth Can Reduce The Risk Of Cancer

Healthy teeth and gums reduce our risk of certain cancers, particularly in women.

Gum disease was linked to a 14% higher risk of cancer in a recent study of 65,000 postmenopausal women aged 54 to 86. Of these, one in three had developed breast cancer, with a fourfold increased incidence of lung cancer, oesophageal, gall bladder, and skin malignancies.

11. Oral Health Impact Pregnancy

Several things can affect your probability of conceiving, and dental problems are one of them.

Gum disease or inflammation can reduce fertility by promoting the release of inflammatory cytokines into the bloodstream. Severe gum disease also makes it harder for women to conceive because their immune systems are affected in such a way that it becomes more difficult to get pregnant.

Furthermore, the chances of miscarrying are also increased if you already have gum disease since bacteria can travel to the uterus through the bloodstream.

12. Teeth Help Keep You Healthy

Having teeth is important because they help to keep you healthy. Teeth also play a vital role in chewing food, which helps you to digest certain foods more easily.

Having tooth decay can lead to an infection in your mouth, which can make it easier for bacteria to enter your bloodstream and this can affect other parts of the body as well. When there are no harmful bacteria in your system, you can rest assured and lead a healthy life!

13. Healthy Teeth Enhance Quality Of Life

Having beautiful, white shiny teeth is important to people with high standards of personal hygiene because they are considered to be attractive, especially in the eyes of the opposite sex. However, it isn’t just about appearance.

Your oral health can affect your overall well-being too because if you have bad teeth or gum disease, it can put a strain on the rest of your body as well.

Unfortunately, around half of the world’s population has some sort of dental ailment, and most people who suffer do not receive adequate treatment owing to a lack of healthcare in their region.

14. Teeth Are Unique Like Fingerprints

Whilst most people have 32 teeth in total with 8 incisors, 4 canines, 8 premolars, and 12 molars, no two individuals have the same set of teeth. They are even different for truly identical twins!

Your teeth are like your fingerprint – they are entirely unique. This is why dental records are occasionally utilized to identify human remains.

15. Teeth Are A Result Of Years Of Evolution

It’s amazing just how complex our teeth are. Much like other parts of the human body, they evolved to suit their purpose and support our bodies in different ways.

Teeth are believed to have evolved from specialized fish scales, based on fossil and genetic evidence. This becomes most obvious when you look at fossils of early man compared to modern man.

The Importance Of Teeth – Conclusion

Teeth are important to our health and well-being. To live a healthy, happy life, you should make sure that you take care of your teeth by brushing them twice a day and visiting the dentist for regular checkups.

It is essential to take good care of teeth for they play a vital role in keeping us healthy. There’s no doubt that maintaining good oral hygiene habits, regardless of your age or profession, will do you a world of good.