Peculiarities of Teeth.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 976, 14 November 1890, Page 5

Peculiarities of Teeth.

An Explanation Which is of Value to Everbody. A tooth in its normal condition consists of lour parts or substances—enamel, cement, dentine and pulp. Enamel is the outer cov°f the crown or exposed portion of the tK" l ky a wise provision of nature it is niekest where most subject to use and wear, ■it is the hardest tissue of the human system, possesses of itself no sensibility and contains not over 4 per cent of animal matter. Yet «is an important fact, and one that should j oa t sight of in caring for the teeth, a. this indispensable coating is almost enirely soluble in acids. Cement is the bone. e covering of the roots and neck of the f °“~» corresponding for the covered portion 0 enamel, with which it blends and B .J* eß ? boub the edge of the gums, for the thF. i. P ar t- Dentine forms the body of tooth. It is not so hard as bone, con-in-t 0 # parallel tubes about 4500 to an » ln diameter, and more than a quarter of It orn P° B iti°n consists of animal matter. sensitive, but the sensation is The u, ue the nerves of the pulp. e J* comm °nly called ‘the nerve,’ is infin;. 8 • nerveß ftQ d blood vess> Is, almost in size, connected and ennerv P o Ped * ver y delicate tissue. These ceß i* Dd vessels connect with the the system through a minute opening at oentie ? L mifc y the root, with which oxWall j' o P. * 8 entirely surrounded by a germ -dentine. In fact, the pulp is the isfm-Jj r b °dy of the tooth, the dentine the nnl from . ** aD< * nonr i ßb *d by it; when mo«t » P l~ Wb *°k is extremely sensitive, as its »nn* derS know—dies, the dentine loses chano.. r °i Dt sensitiveness and gradually Sea colour— itself becomes dead.