lesson
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Run your tongue across your teeth right now. You'll notice they are not all the same shape — some are flat like blades, while others are wide like flat rocks!
Your mouth is built like a specialized toolkit with four different types of teeth, each placed in a specific spot in your upper and lower jaws.
Let's start right at the front of your smile to see what's there.
Incisors: The Front Cutters
The flat, chisel-shaped teeth right in the center of your smile are called incisors. You have four on top and four on the bottom, making 8 incisors in total.
Just like a pair of scissors, their sharp edges cut and slice into food whenever you take a big bite of an apple or a sandwich.
What sits directly next to these front cutters?
Canines: The Pointy Grippers
Right beside your incisors stand the sharp, pointed teeth called canines. You have two in the upper jaw and two in the lower jaw, sitting right at the curved corners of your mouth.
These four teeth are the longest and pointiest in your mouth, perfectly shaped for gripping and tearing tough foods.
What happens when food moves past the sharp front teeth into the back of your mouth?
Premolars and Molars: The Crushing Team
Right behind each canine tooth sit two premolars, giving you four in the top jaw and four in the bottom jaw. They have flat tops with small ridges to crush and break food into smaller chunks.