Did you know...

ANIMAL DENTAL FACTS!!!!!

• Dogs have 42 teeth
• Cats have 30 teeth
• Pigs have 44 teeth
• The armadillo has 104 teeth!!
• The snail's mouth is no larger than the head of a pin, but it can have over 25,000 teeth!
• The Elephant grinds down its molars and grows new ones. This happens six times in its lifetime!
• The elephant's molar is about 7" square!!!
• The Blue Whale is the largest mammal on earth, but it eats only tiny shrimp because it has no teeth!
• The Crocodile Bird flies into the open mouth of a crocodile and cleans it's teeth for it!
• The teeth of the Pocket Gopher grow up to 15" a year! By continually gnawing, they wear them down and they stay the same size. Rats, mice and your hamster among others have teeth that grow continually. If you have one as a pet, it must have wood to gnaw on to shorten its teeth, or it can die.
• The Dolphin only gets one set of teeth to last a lifetime!

Dental Number Facts

Strange but true... Americans spend less per year on dental care than hair care or Lottery tickets!!!!

• 18 yards - the amount of floss bought each year per person
• 10 to 12 - the number of teaspoons of sugar in an average 12 oz. soda
• 122 yards - the amount of floss that should be bought each year
• $2.025 billion - the amount spent on Hallowen candy in 2001
• $1.8 billion - annual amount spent on toothpaste
• $775 million - annual amount spent on toothbrushes
• 78% of Americans have at least one cavity by age 17
• 74% of Americans have some type of periodontal disease
• 3 sodas - the number of sodas that increase tooth decay by 62%
• 45-70 seconds - the amount of time most people brush a day
• 2 - 3 minutes - the recommended amount of brushing time
• $50 billion - the amount spent on dental care
• $100 billion - the amount spent on hair care
• $300 billion - the amount spent on lottery tickets
• 300 types of bacteria make up dental plaque
• 1,611,000 - the number of school days missed in 1996 due to dental problems
• 600 - the number of cans of soda consumed yearly by the average American!

Dental History Facts

• In 1866 Lucy Beaman Hobbs became the first licensed female dentist
• In 1986, the winner of the National Spelling Bee won by spelling ODONTALGIA (which means toothache)
• The average amount of money left by the Tooth Fairy in 1950 was 25 cents. In 1988 it was $1.00.
• The earliest dentist known by name is Hesi-Re. He lived in Egypt over 5000 years ago.
• In Egypt, mummies have been found with tooth fillings of resin and malachite. Loose teeth were held together with gold wire.
• The first toothbrushes were tree twigs. Chewing on the tips of the twigs spread out the fibers, which were then used to clean the teeth.
• Ancient Greeks used pumice, talc, alabaster, coral powder or iron rust as toothpaste.
• George Washington never had wooden teeth. His dentures were made from Gold, hippopotamus tusk, elephant ivory and human teeth!!
• Blacksmiths in early America often served as Dentists
• In 201 AD the Romans were dental experts - using gold crowns and fixed bridgework, and a paste made of ground eggshell and honey to clean the teeth.
• In 1905 dental assistant Irene Newman was trained to clean teeth. She became the first Dental Hygienist.

Lucy Beaman Hobbs

How much is the Tooth Fairy paying per tooth? Around $2 per tooth, according to Securian Dental Plans, an insurance provider. (12/05, Money Magazine)

• Top of the American teeth stakes in the poll for greatest looking teeth were Hollywood actors Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts.
• AAP’s recent consumer survey found:
• 50% consider the smile the first facial feature they notice
• 80% are not happy with their smile
• Respondents were 7 times more likely to have periodontal, smile enhancement procedures, than facelifts
• Smile enhanced procedures outnumbered eyelid surgeries 5 to 1
• 32% of Americans cite bad breath as the least attractive trait of their co-workers.
• 38.5 total days an average American spends brushing teeth over lifetime.
• 73% of Americans would rather go grocery shopping than floss.
• 32% of Americans cite bad breath as the least attractive trait of their co-workers.
• 60% of people who don't know that a sore jaw, when combined with chest pain, can signal a heart attack-especially in women
• 38.5 = the total days an average American spends brushing teeth over a lifetime.
• 73% of Americans would rather go grocery shopping than floss.
• Dentists have recommended that a toothbrush be kept at least six (6) feet away from a toilet to avoid airborne particles resulting from the flush.
• A toothpick is the object most often choked on by Americans.
• Every year, kids in North America spend close to half a billion dollars on chewing gum
• The number of cavities in the average mouth is down and people are keeping their teeth longer. People, on average, have healthier mouths than even 10 years ago. Specifically:
• The decline in tooth decay was greatest among kids but holds across every age group.
• Only 40% of young people age 6 to 19 had ever in their lives had cavities. That’s down from 50% a decade ago.
• Over the last ten years the proportion of people age 60 who’d lost all their teeth had decreased from 33% to 25%.
• Use of dental sealants, which block tooth decay on the chewing surfaces of kids’ vulnerable molars, was up 64%. 30% of kids had had at least one sealed tooth.
• Adults with post-high-school degrees had an average of three more teeth than those without a high school diploma.
• Smokers remain three times more likely than non-smokers to lose all their teeth. This figure has not changed from a decade ago.
• Socio-economic status plays a definite role in one’s general and dental health....33% of low-income adults have untreated decay. This compared with 16% of middle- and higher-income adults. 19% of kids living in poverty have untreated decay compared with 8% of wealthier kids. CDC & ADA 1/06
• ADA video news releases: Visit ADA org: Video
• More people use blue toothbrushes than red ones.
• Like fingerprints, everyone’s tongue print is different
• The average toothbrush contains about 2,5000 bristles grouped into about 40 tufts per toothbrush. The tufts are folded over a metal staple and forced onto pre-cored holes in the head and fused into the head with heat. The handle is made of at least two materials, usually plastic and rubber. The grips used for the handle is: precision, power, spoon, oblique and distal oblique. AGD Impact 2/2003
• The average woman smiles about 62 times a day! A man? Only 8! Kids laugh around 400 times a day. Grown-ups just 15:-( Smilers in school yearbooks are more likely to have successful careers and marriages than poker faced peers
• According to a 1997 Gallup Poll, dentistry is the fifth most trusted profession in America. Another recent Gallup Poll indicated that dentists generally get high marks from consumers for their interpersonal skills and delivery of quality care.
• A survey by Louis Harris and Associates reported that 83 percent of American adults were very satisfied with services received from their dentists. A recent Gallup Poll also reported that 92 percent or the respondents stated that they would recommend their dentist to someone else. IDF Joseph Chamberlain, D.D.S
• Tooth decay remains the most common chronic disease among children ages 5-17 with 59% affected.
• More than 51 million hours of school are lost each year by children due to dental related illness.
• Employed adults lose more than 164 million hours of work each year due to oral health problems or dental visits.
• Just 40% of children in poor or near-poor poverty level had a preventive dental visit in the past year.
• 44% of dental care expenditures are paid out-of-pocket. Source: Issue Briefs on Challenges for the 21st Century: Chronic and Disabling Conditions
• How people take care of their mouths is often a reflection about how they feel about themselves. At birth the only fully developed organ is the tongue. It is needed for sucking. For the first two months of life our mouth is our primary organ. We use for survival, expressing ourselves and to explore our new world. consequently it is very significant in our unconscious. Because of this it is my opinion that how we take care of our mouths is a reflection of how we feel about ourselves. People who feel good about themselves take good care of their mouth and people who have a poor self image generally do not take good care of their mouth. Marvin Mansky

What is it?

• Dentists rate big (61%) in ethics poll for honesty and trustworthy AGD Impact pg 8 March 2004.
• Responding to the 2003 Lemelson-MIT Invention Index survey, 34 percent of teens and 42 percent of adults chose the toothbrush first when asked to select the invention they could not live without from among five choices. The other four: the personal computer, automobile, microwave and cellular phone.(2003)
• The survey of 1,000 people in Britain asked a range of teeth-related questions. Almost half the men polled said they would have teeth- whitening treatment compared with 35% of women. Good teeth and a nice smile came second in the list of what females look for in men, after eyes. For men a good body was the important thing they look for, followed by eyes, hair, and teeth.
• Royal smile -there is someone whose job includes squeezing Prince Charles's toothpaste onto the royal toothbrush. That someone is Michael Fawcett, the prince's personal valet. Since Fawcett is, according to various news reports, the only person Charles trusts with this awesome responsibility, one must presume that the heir to the throne's dental hygiene declines precipitously whenever the valet goes on vacation. [MSNBC.com]
• Americans spent nearly $2.025 billion on Halloween candy this year. That would fund the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research for almost six years. (ADA Nov 2002)
• A poll conducted in Michigan showed that Republicans, Protestants & women brush their teeth more often than Democrats, Catholics & men. 2% of those polled said they don't brush at all. Cited: RepConnect #13 June 2003

DENTAL DETAILS

• Americans spend $2 billion a year on dental products -- toothpaste, mouthwash and dental floss.
• 94 percent of Americans say they brush nightly; 81 percent say they do it first thing in the morning.
• 75 percent of the U.S. population has some form of periodontal gum disease.
• 50 percent of Americans do not receive regular oral health care American Hygienist Ass 2/03

Flossed Facts:

• Year commercial floss was first manufactured: 1882
• Material it was first made of: silk
• Newest material: Gore-tex
• Amount bought per person: 18 yards
• Amount that should be bought per person: 122 yards (figuring one foot a day)
• Percent who say they floss daily: 28% (some are fibbing, according to the sales data above)
• In 1994 a prison inmate in West Virginia braided floss into a rope, scaled the wall and escaped.
• 83% of people believe their teeth are more important to their appearance than hair and eyes, according to a recent survey conducted by Roper ASW in conjunction with ReachMax.
• 33% of Americans have untreated tooth decay. (CDC, 2002)
• In children under age 16, regular brushing with fluoridated toothpaste results in 24 percent fewer cavities than does brushing with non-fluoridated toothpaste. (Cochrane.org)
• Percent of Persons Ages 2-17 with a Dental Visit in the Past Year: 74.1% (2000) Percent of Persons Ages 18-64 with a Dental Visit in the Past Year: 65.3% (2000) Percent of Persons Ages 65 and Over with a Dental Visit in the Past Year: 56.4% (2000)
• People who drink 3 or more sugary sodas daily have 62% more dental decay, fillings and tooth loss
• 78% of Americans have had at least 1 cavity by age 17 (CDC, 2002)
• 90% of systemic disease have oral manifestations. (AGD, 2002)
• You are not "to old for good dental care" the average 65 year old has 17.3 years of life remaining!
• $1.8 Billion dollars is the total annual consumer spending on toothpaste. (ACNielsen, 2002)
• Colgate Palmolive Company now has 34.6% share of the US toothpaste market. Its recently introduced Simply White tooth-whitening product gained a 30% share of the at-home whitening market .
• 74% of Americans are affected by some type of periodontal or gum disease or gingivitis. (AGD, 2002)
• $775 Million dollars is the total annual consumer spending on toothbrushes. (ACNielsen, 2002)
• $885 Million dollars if the total annual consumer spending on oral antiseptics/rinses. (ACNielsen, 2002)*
• Someone should invent “Tooth Paper”…which would work just like “Toilet Paper.” Then people will understand that it’s important to wipe off what goes in just as much as what comes out! Stated by Mike Maroon :-)
• 51 Million school hours per years are lost because of dental related illness. (Surgeon General David Satcher)
• The most valuable tooth belonged to Sir Isaac Newton. In 1816 one of his teeth was sold in London for $3,633.00 or in today's terms $35,700.00 The tooth was set in a ring. (Source: Guinness World Records 2002)
• Students ages 5-17 years missed 1,611,000 school days in 1996 due to acute dental problems-an average of 3.1 days per 100 students. (Surgeon General David Satcher)
• People who drink 3 or more sugary sodas daily have 62% more dental decay, fillings and tooth loss.
• Academy of General dentistry, the average person only brushes for 45 to 70 seconds a day, the recommended amount of time is 2-3 minutes.
• Two 'Fs': Fluoride (use fluoride toothpaste daily) Frequency (avoid frequent snacking between meals).....this is the "practical way to help avoid dental decay.
• People with red hair are more sensitive to pain and consequently need more anesthetic during operations than other patients. Those with red hair needed 20 per cent more aesthetic to numb the pain, according to New Scientist. Oct 2002

Dentistry is affordable:

• Dentistry: $50 Billion
• Pet food: $50 Billion
• Hair care: $100 Billion
• Gambling (legal): $300 Billion
• American sweet tooth... Did you know…Americans spent $21 billion on candy in 2001. That is more than the gross national products of Lituania, Costa Rica and Mozambique combined. [Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter 2002 November: 3]
• $1.8 billion is the total annual consumer spending on toothpaste
• 33 is the percentage of Americans who have untreated tooth decay.
• $777 million is the total annual consumer spending on toothbrushes.
• 74 is the percentage of Americans affected by some type of periodontal disease or gingivitis.
• Sugar Facts: Chemical manufacturers use sugar to grow penicillin A teaspoon of sugar after a hot curry will extinguish the furnace in your mouth A spoonful of sugar added to a vase will prolong the life of freshly cut flowers
• More than 300 types of bacteria make up dental plaque.
• Earliest Known Dental Work A total of 11 teeth from 9 adults who lived between 7,500 and 9,000 years ago contain holes drilled with sharpened flint points, according to a report in Science News Online. Flint-wielding specialists drilled holes, which are believed to have been filled with some type of material. The teeth came from residents of a prehistoric farming village called Mahrgarh in what is now Pakistan. (Source: Coppa, A., D.W. Frayer, R. Macchiarelli, 2006, Early Neolithic tradition of dentistry. Nature 440 (April 6):755-756

• The average human produces 25,000 quarts of saliva (spit) in a lifetime. That is enough saliva to fill 2 swimming pools!
• The Statue of Liberty’s mouth is 3 feet wide.
• A sneeze zooms out of your mouth at over 600 mph!
• Most tooth loss in people under 35 years of age is caused by athletic trauma, fights or accidents.

Dental Offices can get fun facts and more posted to their social media everyday

• Most tooth loss in people over age 35 is from Periodontal Disease.
• Children begin to develop their primary teeth 6 weeks after conception while in their mothers womb.
• If you don’t floss, you miss cleaning 35% of your tooth surfaces.
• A tooth that has been knocked out starts to die within 15 minutes, but if you put it in milk or hold it in your mouth it will survive longer. See a dentist ASAP!
• 100 years ago 50% of adults in North America were toothless.
• Today less than 10% of adults over age 65 have lost teeth.
• In the middle ages, people believed that dogs teeth boiled in wine made an excellent mouth rinse for tooth decay prevention.
• Teeth are the hardest substance in the human body.
• Ancient cultures chewed on twigs or roots to clean their teeth.
• Boar, badger and horse hair were used for toothbrush bristles but were later found to be abrasive and harsh.
• The first nylon bristled toothbrush with a plastic handle was invented in 1938.
• The first American to get a patent for a toothbrush was H.N. Wadsworth.
• The electric toothbrush first appeared in 1939.
• Egyptians used a form of toothpaste over 5000 years ago.
• Colgate introduced aromatic toothpaste in a jar in 1873.
• Colgate dental cream was packaged in collapsible tubes in 1896.
• Approximately $2 billion a year is spent on dental products a year in the United States . (toothpaste, mouthwash, floss and toothbrushes)
• According to a “Time Magazine Survey”, 59% of Americans would rather sit in a Dentist’s chair than sit next to someone on a cell phone.
• According to “Consumer’s Report”, Dentist’s are among the 5 most trusted professionals in the U.S.
• Jaw muscles can contract with a force as great as 55 pounds of pressure on anterior incisors, and 200 pounds of pressure on back molars.
• 90% of systemic diseases have oral manifestations.
• Regular dental cleanings can help prevent heart attacks.
• Tooth Decay is the 2nd most common disease in the U.S. after the common cold.
• Adults have 32 teeth, children have 20 teeth.
• In 1840 the world’s first dental school opened in Baltimore .
• In 1859, 26 dentists met at Niagara Falls and started the American Dental Association for the exchange of information.
• Clean teeth can help prevent a heart attack.
• 100 years ago one half of all adult North Americans were toothless – today less than 10% of adults over 65 have lost their teeth.
• In the Middle ages people believed that dogs’ teeth boiled in wine made an excellent mouth rinse for tooth decay.
• The average North American can exert approximately 30-40lbs per square inch of pressure with their jaws – denture wearers can get up to about 15lbs. Some Inuit people can exert 350lbs of pressure.
• U.S. and Japanese studies have found that black or green tea has antibacterial powers that help prevent cavities and gum disease
• Over 40% of North Americans have at least one tooth that could benefit from some type of treatment
• The first toothbrush with bristles was developed in China in 1948. The bristles were taken from hogs, and later horses and badgers. Nylon bristles were introduced in 1938 by Dupont.
• In Vermont , it is illegal for women to wear false teeth without the written permission of their husband
• Most tooth loss in people under 35 years of age is caused by athletic trauma, fights or accidents. The causes of most tooth loss in people over 35 is periodontal disease.
• During the Dark Ages, (400-1400 AD) popular belief was that you could grow a lost tooth by obtaining a tooth from someone else – ideally from a hanged criminal?
• 50's heart throb James Dean had no front teeth! He wore a bridge.
• Some other common tooth remedies from ancient times..for toothache, boil earthworms in oil and use the oil to put drops in your ear. To make loose teeth firm tie a frog to your jaw.
• The first set of false teeth were discovered in the 8 th century BC
• 20% percentage of patients wear braces between the ages of twenty and sixty
• Most children are brought to the dentist for their visit at the age of three.
• An obscure Mexican plant called the “Lippa Dulcis” is 1000x sweeter than table sugar. This plant does not cause tooth decay and could serve as the source of a low-calorie sweetener in the future.
• There are 60 herbs commonly sited for treatment of dental problems in ancient Chinese medical books
• On September 20 China celebrates “Love your Teeth Day” – a national holiday promoting oral awareness among its 1.2 billion people
• Not long ago, dentures were common wedding gifts in the British Isles because many people expected to eventually lose all of their teeth and expedited the process by having them extracted at an early age
• A $250,000 mechanical mouth developed by dental researchers can duplicate a year’s worth of chewing in 24 hours and takes four bites a second, drastically speeding up the testing of dental materials
• Certain cheeses including Aged Cheddar, Swiss and Monterey Jack, have been found to protect teeth from decay
• Not only is tooth decay the most common and widespread disease of humankind, it is the oldest. Skulls of pre-historic humans have been examined and tooth decay has been found.
• In ancient Egyptian times, you were more likely to suffer from a toothache if you were well-to-do. This was because those who could afford to, ate sweets (such as honey), while the workers ate onions.
• Teeth in a growing fetus begin to develop only six weeks after conception
• Today’s tooth fairy needs a lot more silver than she did in 1900 when she left an average of twelve cents. In 1998, the tooth fairy left an average of one dollar.
• Athletes are 60 times more likely to damage their teeth when not wearing a mouth guard during athletic activities
• If you don’t floss you miss cleaning 35% of your tooth surfaces
• The earliest record of tooth decay was described by the Sumarians as “tooth worms”. There is also historical evidence that around 2700 BC, Chinese acupuncture was used to treat tooth pain.
• The first braces were constructed by Pierre Fauchard in 1728 in France . These braces consisted of a flat strip of metal connected to the teeth by pieces of thread.
• Orthodontic brackets were invented by Edward Angle in 1915. If you or your parents had braces before 1970, they were probably similar to those invented by Dr.Angle.
• Over three million miles of dental floss is purchased in North America each year

Famous Dentist Trivia

• Paul Revere – known for his famous ride and his work as a silversmith, put ads in a Boston newspaper offering his services as a dentist. Revere , in fact, is the first person known to use dental forensics, to identify the body of a colonial colonel killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill by the bridge appliance he wore.
• Doc Holiday – helped Wyatt Earp win the OK Corral Shootout.
• Thomas Welch – his company was the first to bottle grape juice.
• George Grant – invented the wooden golf tee.
• Zane Gray – wrote best selling Western Novels.
• William Morrison – invented the machine that makes cotton candy in 1897 and unveiled at the World’s Fair in 1904 in St. Louis . He was called “Fairy Floss”.
• Horace Wells – first dentist to use nitrous oxide “laughing gas” as an anesthestic for dental work in 1844.
• Grant Wood – famous artist of painting “American Gothic”. The stone-faced farmer was his dentist.
• George Washington – first President of the United States was the most famous dental patient of Dr. Greenwood. He had several sets of dentures that were made out of ivory. His teeth were not made out of wood!