Study Confirms Teeth Originated as Sensory Structures in Ancient Fish Armor

IFLScience We Have Questions: Why Don’t Animals Have To Brush Their Teeth?

Find out what it’s really like doing dentistry on non-human species.

Scientists Just Traced Tooth Pain Back to a Prehistoric Fish

That zing in your molars after a cold drink? You can thank a prehistoric fish wrapped in bony armor that lived over 460 million years ago for that. A new study published in Nature shows that dentine—the sensitive tissue beneath your enamel—first evolved as part of sensory armor in extinct jawless fish. These early vertebrates used mineralized tissue not just for protection but for detecting their environment. “This shows us that ‘teeth’ can also…

Science & Medicine: Go to the dentist

When people think about things they can do to stay healthy, they don’t think about their teeth nearly enough.

Our Teeth May Descend From Sensitive Bumps on Prehistoric Fish Armor, New Research Finds

Hundreds of millions of years ago, fish had sensory features on their exoskeletons that contained dentine, the material that makes our teeth sensitive today

Our sensitive teeth likely evolved from the armor of ancient fish

A new study reveals that the sensitivity of teeth, which makes them zing in a dentist's chair or ache after biting into something cold, can be traced back to the exoskeletons of ancient, armored fish.

Toothache from eating something cold? Blame these ancient fish

New research shows that dentine, the inner layer of teeth that transmits sensory information to nerves inside the pulp, first evolved as sensory tissue in the armored exoskeletons of ancient fish.