文：黃郁芩醫師

暑假來臨，你有什麼計畫呢？黃醫師特別幫大家挑選了一本英文圖書 – 「You Wouldn’t Want to Live Without Dentists！」(你不會想活在沒有牙醫的世界)，讓大家一起來聽故事！

你可以想像嗎？在過去的幾個世紀裡，蛀牙的唯一治療方法，是在沒有麻醉藥劑的情況下將其拔出，並且只需要敲鼓來分散你的注意力並淹沒你的尖叫聲！透過這故事書有趣的文字和圖片，描述了牙齒的組成、如何照顧它們、如果你不如何做會發生什麼… 以及為什麼你永遠不應該害怕去看牙醫！

Subtitle:(英文原文如下)

Terrific Teeth

Yes, we’ve all got teeth, but why? What are teeth for? First, and most importantly, we need teeth for eating. They are the world’s first, and best, food processors. Like machinery in our mouths, teeth chop and grind, crunch and crush, chomp. chew and gnaw all the food we eat. They then mixed the food with saliva(spit), so it slides down easily down easily into your stomachs. Without teeth, we’d find it diffcult to eat-and hard to stay alive. We also need teeth for talking. They help our lips and tongues make all kinds of different sounds. Just look at yourself in a mirror, say a few words, and watch those teeth move!

HOW MANY teeth do you have? It depends on how old you are. Babies are born without teeth, then 20 milk(first) teeth push through their gums. These fall out when children reach 6 to 12 years of age, and 32 adult teeth grow in their place, ready to last a lifetime!

ADULT HUMAN TEETH grow in four different shapes and sizes:

8 incisors: Flat, with sharp edges for cutting and nibbling.

4 canines: Fang-shaped and pointed, for stabbing and gripping.

8 premolars: With rounded points, good for chewing and crunching.

8 molars: Big and flat, used for grinding.

4 third molars or wisdom teeth: A spare set of molars, right at the back of the mouth, that appear much later than the rest of the teeth.

CHEWING GETS our digestive system going. When our teeth crush food, saliva starts to break it do so our bodies can use the nourishment it contains. Our stomachs and intestines digest the food even more. Then our blood carries nourishment from the digested food to every part of our body, and we stay strong and healthy.

Tooth Types

Different animals have different types of teeth, tailored to the type of food that animal eats:

NIBBLING. Rats and mice have huge incisor teeth, great for gnawing and nibbling. Their incisors keep on growing all the time as the hard food wears them away.

BITING. Dogs and wolves have big canine teeth for grabbing and snatching their prey. Once they bite, they don’t let go!

TEARING. Lions, tigers and other cats have sharp curved carnassial teeth that cut flesh like knives or scissors.

GRINDING. Animals that eat plants, such as cows and horses, have huge molar teeth to crush and grind their food.

You Can Do It!

Use your teethe to communicate – by flashing a smile! Smiling is a sign of peace, happiness, and friendship all around the world.