intersting teeth and dentistry facts

Teeth Facts

• Surprisingly, 25% of adults do not brush their teeth twice a day.  Not brushing twice a day increases the risk of tooth decay by 33%
• In a lifetime, the average American spends approximately 38.5 total days just brushing their teeth.  That’s over a month of your life!
• The hardest substance found in the human body is your tooth enamel

Floss Facts

• Flossing is an essential part of oral hygiene.  When you do not floss, you are missing over 40% of tooth surfaces, which is why your dentist always emphasizes flossing!
• Although flossing is essential, many people do not like doing it.  A whopping 73% of Americans would go to the grocery store than floss their teeth
• The first introduction of commercial floss was 1882 by Codman and Shurtleff, Inc., later acquired by Johnson and Johnson in 1965
• Floss is also quite durable.  A West Virginia inmate once used dental floss to braid a rope, which he used to scale a building and escape in 1992

Mouth Facts

• In a lifetime, a person produces over 100,000 gallons of saliva.  To put that into perspective, that is over 20 semitrucks worth of saliva or 1.06 million red solo cups
• One of the most common effects of poor dental hygiene is bad breath.  Over 90% of bad breath originates in the mouth
• There are over 700 different types of bacteria in your mouth alone
• Those who drink three or more cups of soda per day are 62% more likely to suffer from tooth decay, tooth loss, and filling than others.  Stay away from soft drinks!
• Right-handed people tend to chew food on the right side of their mouth, while left-handed people tend to chew their food on the left side of their mouth
• Like your tooth prints and fingerprints, your tongue is also unique.  No two people share the same tongue print