What if you woke up one day
to find out that not one,
not two,
but all of your chompers were gone?
And now you're toothless
for the rest of your life.
OK, let’s get you a little more familiar with your teeth
before they're gone forever.
You have 32 teeth in your mouth.
They’re divided into five different categories.
In the front are your eight incisors.
You use these to bite into food.
Next, are your four canines.
These are your sharpest teeth,
they rip and tear food apart.
Behind those are the teeth you chew with.
These are your four premolars and eight molars.
And beyond that are third molars or wisdom teeth.
For some people, these never develop.
But for many people,
they cause crowding and need to be removed.
Painful.
OK, now that you're all up to speed,
it’s time to say goodbye to those pearly whites.
Sorry.
Your teeth wouldn't just just magically disappear.
Oh, no.
You'd swallow them whole.
Is this even possible?
Unfortunately, it is.
Teeth are small enough that they could pass through
even the narrowest parts of your digestive tract.
The first thing you would notice
is that it would be much more difficult to speak.
Your teeth are important for airflow while talking.
Many words or sounds
require the tongue to make contact with the teeth for pronunciation.
The next big change
would occur right around your first meal.
And of course, every meal after that.
The enamel on your teeth
is the hardest part of your body.
Without teeth, you couldn't chew.
Your gums and jaws would need to work overtime
to break up the food enough for you to swallow.
It would be nearly impossible to eat hard foods.
Doing this regularly could lead to infected gums.
It would also lead to incomplete digestion.
Not chewing means nutrients wouldn’t be extracted,
and your colon could become a breeding ground for bacteria.
You would need to switch to an all-liquid diet,
blending your fruits, veggies and proteins
into smoothies or soups.
This could make it challenging to get all the nutrients,
vitamins and minerals your body needs.
You'll have to plan out all your meals to make sure you keep up.
Another shocking thing that would happen without teeth is that
your jawbone would weaken.
Yeah, your jaw is in a constant state of change
as it responds to the pressure placed on it from teeth.
Without that pressure,
it could be more prone to fractures.
So be careful.
Even the slightest bump in the face could hurt.
A lot.
Hopefully, you already have good dental hygiene habits,
because without teeth,
the battle against plaque and bacteria
would be even more difficult.
There are about 700 different forms of bacteria,
both good and bad, that can be found in your mouth.
The bacteria that does the most damage
is Streptococcus mutans.
It converts sugars and carbs
into acids which attack your teeth.
Without teeth,
your gums would be completely exposed
and highly prone to bacterial infections
like gingivitis or periodontitis.
Typically, these diseases would begin with tooth decay,
which could lead to rot.
Eventually, the teeth would fall out
or be removed.
Luckily for you though,
your teeth would already be missing.
So you'd only have to deal with inflamed and tender gums.
Unless treated with antibiotics and constant deep cleaning,
you would suffer big time.
Severe pain,
constant foul taste
and really, really bad breath.
And that's all on top of
missing all the solid food you used to love.
Look, even though you probably don't have to worry
about a scenario in which all your teeth are gone
from one night to the next,
you might want to take the best care of them
while you've still got them.
And while you're at it,
you can think about what else you wouldn't want your body to lose.
Like all your senses.
But that's a story
for another WHAT IF.