Unveiling dental mystery of SHARK'S TEETH..
By vanny
@vandana7 (102698)
India
March 21, 2013 12:21am CST
Did you know that the shark can lose its teeth and get it back again, even as an adult?
We have those milk teeth...and we lose them, and regrow the teeth, and thereafter, its almost as if god does not want us to eat what we want to eat.
Anyway, I am curious what is common between our milk teeth and shark's teeth...such that, if both fall, new teeth grows in their place. If we could identify what is not there in the adult teeth that is there in our dental structure when we have our milk teeth...we wouldnt need dentists would we? We could eat as much as we wanted, and when the tooth got rotten, get it pulled out, get an injection of relevant stem cell, and within four weeks...a new set of teeth...:)
My little friend is getting his teeth...and he bit my index finger today...and though this thought is old, I decided let me check who knows why we are not looking in that direction.
3 people like this
6 responses
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
21 Mar 13
Sharks teeth grow in quite a different way from human (and other mammalian) teeth. Sharks have several rows of teeth which grow in succession and as the teeth in the outer rows are used and become worn, they fall out and are replaced by teeth from the next row. A shark may lose something like 30,000 teeth in its lifetime.
In humans and some mammals the first teeth are replaced by the adult teeth, which form underneath them and push them out. There are no subsequent tooth buds so the adult teeth must last the rest of the person's life. That is why it is so important for a child to learn and develop a habit of dental hygiene early on. It is also important to realise that a proper diet is essential to the preservation of teeth. Sugar and sweet substances are a relatively modern addition to the diet in the quantities which most people now consume. Formerly, fruit and wild honey were the only sugars available and tooth decay was much less of a problem than it is today.
2 people like this
@vandana7 (102698)
• India
22 Mar 13
It is not only sweets. Lions and tigers eat flesh and it must be getting stuck somewhere...so there is this need to ensure more tooth buds...inject some stem cells and let them grow into teeth replacing the existing tooth...may be not in my lifetime, but eventually, I guess they will find a way. :)
Where will they all go to earn their livelihood then?
@BarBaraPrz (51839)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
21 Mar 13
If we kept regrowing our teeth, I think it might get a bit crowded in our mouths. I've met a few adults who still had a baby tooth in their mouth. The adult teeth pushed it out of the way but it didn't fall out.
@vandana7 (102698)
• India
25 Mar 13
Oh no..i didnt mean that way.. when I was young, we used to get a specific type of pencil where the previous tip could be removed, and a new one fixed in its place. So I was hoping that we could get some stem cells injected so that the new tooth grew in the place of an existing one, which can be extracted, if necessary.
.@vandana7 (102698)
• India
22 Mar 13
I do believe in evolution by natural selection, so if I lost my Shark's fin, and Shark's tail and it got transformed into limb someway, its all understandable. But I still eat, and I still need those teeth...why did natural selection compromise on that..lol
1 person likes this
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@jenny1015 (13359)
• Philippines
21 Mar 13
It is still undergoing researches as to how sharks are capable of growing teeth through their life unlike humans who only have two sets of teeth in their lifetime. But what I do know is the difference in their oral condition as they age. Sharks continuously shed off and grow back their teeth even without trauma or health issues. Whereas humans have to deal with cavities, gum diseases and other underlying tissue conditions which affects the "life" of a tooth.
@squallming (1775)
• Malaysia
26 Mar 13
Having no teeth after our teeth is broken is no doubt a big concern for everybody. I did heard the same saying that shark's teeth will grow again when it falls even when they are adult. If the scientist somehow gain knowledge to how we can grow our teeth again even when we are already aged, it will help a lot of people to regain confidence and to eat food they like. I hope some professionals will see this discussion and starts to do something about it. 
