• Question: why do we have baby and adult teeth?? not teen teeth? or elderly teeth? not just one set?? why do we specifically have baby and adult teeth? whats with all the teeth?!

    Asked by ava and hibba!! on 10 Apr 2025.
    • Photo: Kirsty Ross

      Kirsty Ross answered on 10 Apr 2025:

      Basically, when we are embryos we have two layers of tissue that go on to form the baby teeth, followed by the adult teeth. This tissue breaks down in humans after our second set are formed, which is why we don’t continually replace our teeth over time like other animals. Here is a good article about it: https://theconversation.com/why-do-humans-grow-two-sets-of-teeth-these-marsupials-are-rewriting-the-story-of-dental-evolution-189796

    • Photo: Ioanna Bezirtzoglou

      Ioanna Bezirtzoglou answered on 19 May 2025:

      Great question! they are called baby teeth as they are our initial teeth that we have that fall down as we age – this is as they need to adapt to our new dioet and bigger mouth and face which would require bigger forces to chew – hence you need stronger tooth which are your adult tooth and they are for life until they fall out!

Comments

  • Photo: Andrew M

    Andrew M commented on :

    Without wishing to appear morbid, only having two sets of teeth and the timing of those teeth is linked to the role of planned obsolescence, death, in biological systems. In nature, only having two sets of teeth effectively puts a limit on how long an individual can live. In non-human species if your teeth wear out you can’t eat, so you starve and you die. Our lives are limited and there appears to be an evolutionary benefit to this strategy. You might look at it this way – our teeth emerge and are at their best at times to help us make it to adulthood and through our reproductive years – there is an evolutionary advantage to having good teeth to that point – you’ve the greatest chance of passing on those genes that promote that ability. Genes that would allow you to have further sets of teeth after the age of reproduction might benefit you, the individual, but would not help your ability to produce the greatest number of the best adapted offspring, so would be evolutionarily irrelevant and prime for deletion, unless having good teeth into old age provided sufficient alternative advantage to the survivial and reproductive success of your children and grandchildren to offset the cost of having you compete against them for limited resources.
    So, we have baby teeth and we have adult teeth but no more than these, because there’s an advantage to the species of individuals not being immortal.