Here are some interesting facts about your mouth that may leave you with your mouth wide open. But beware, familiarity breeds contempt!
Your Mouth Produces Enough Saliva to Fill a Wine Bottle Every Day
The mere sight of your favorite hot chocolate smoothie while you scrolled down your Instagram feed or a swift whiff of the brewed Arabic Coffee’s heavenly aroma while you strolled down the mall aisle had possibly made you drool. Do not feel guilty. Proper production of the saliva indicates that you are perfectly healthy. Taste perception, proper digestion of the food, protection and repair of the soft tissue inside the mouth, mechanical cleansing of the tooth etc. are among many functions of the saliva. Hence, the salivary glands located inside and around the mouth actively produce the saliva in a quantity of 0.5-1.5 liters per day, with an average of 1 liter per day which is enough to fill your wine bottle.
Your Mouth Contains 6 Billion Different Bacteria
What the Amazon rainforest is for the animal species, so is your mouth for the bacterial species. It is a hotspot of biodiversity, housing nearly 6 billion bacteria, belonging to 700 species. They are born, living, eating, sleeping, giving birth and dying inside your mouth just like the 7.7 billion of the human population outside. Most of these bacteria are harmless, but without proper oral hygiene, they may cause diseases including tooth decay and periodontal diseases.
Your Teeth are as Unique as Your Fingerprint
An adult human has 4 types of teeth – incisors, canines, premolars, and molars. Their size, shape, and spacing vary in individuals. No two people have the same arrangement of teeth inside the mouth. The way a person’s teeth are arranged in the mouth is unique to the individual. Besides, every tooth in the mouth possesses a set of unique characteristics called “tooth class characteristics’’ by which a person can be identified. Forensic odontology deals with using a person’s teeth and oral structures for identifying the person for legal purposes.
Men Have a Longer Tongue Than Women
Ladies out there, say no to the tongue-in-cheek remarks indicating the length of your tongues. Say no and mean it! A study conducted by the orthodontic department of the University of Edinburgh’s dental school had found out that the mean average length of the tongue in men is 8.5 cm while in women, it is 7.9 cm. Also, the longest tongue in the world belongs to a man; Nick Stoeberl from the USA, with a 10.1 cm long tongue.
Your Tongue is Not the Strongest Muscle in Your Body
There is a popular myth that the tongue is the strongest muscle in the human body. No, it is not. It is the tongue’s stamina that made the myth an easy pill to swallow (pun intended!) None of us have ever felt our tongue fatigued no matter how long we use it for talking, chewing, swallowing or simply rolling. The tongue is not a single muscle. It is a combination of 8 different muscles, unsupported by a bone, which makes it flexible and constantly agile that we mistake it for its strength.
If the eyes are the window to your soul, the mouth is the window to your health. Get it regularly checked by your dentist for the prevention and early detection of any anomalies.
If the eyes are the window to your soul, the mouth is the window to your health. Get it regularly checked by your dentist for the prevention and early detection of any anomalies.
