Why Are Teeth Not Considered Bones?

Live Science

Teeth and bones are both hard, white and heavy with calcium, but that doesn't make them one and the same. From the way they look to how they heal, teeth are quite different from the body's bones.

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00:00Why are teeth not considered bones? Picture a skull. It has teeth, doesn't it?

00:07So why are teeth not considered bones? Teeth and bones are both hard, white, and

00:12packed with calcium, but that doesn't make them one in the same. For one, teeth

00:18are mostly made of minerals. Bones, on the other hand, do have many minerals, but

00:23mainly consist of a protein called collagen. Collagen is a living, growing

00:28tissue that makes bones strong and flexible, but it doesn't make them as

00:32strong as teeth. Teeth are the hardest part of the human body, thanks to a

00:37calcified tissue called dentine. Dentine is covered with another material called

00:42enamel, which gives teeth their hard, shiny surface, your pearly whites. Still, bones

00:49have at least one advantage over teeth, even if they are weaker. They can

00:53regenerate. That means that if you break a bone, it can heal, but crack or

00:58chip a tooth and you're in for some dental work. Another difference between

01:02teeth and bones? Bone marrow. This spongy concoction inside your bones is

01:08responsible for producing blood cells, something the inside of your teeth

01:12definitely cannot do. And even though the inside of a tooth may look like marrow, it

01:18actually contains something called dental pulp. This living portion of each tooth

01:23contains nerves and blood vessels. It's those nerves that are responsible for the

01:28pain of a toothache or cavity. Teeth and bones, just another one of life's little

01:33mysteries.

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