Fostering curiosity in kids (and their parents) since 2011

“What does a toothache look like?”

A statue showing a man with curly hair clutching his jaw in pain.

Image via Wikipedia

Lately, my daughter has been asking me a lot of questions that seem to have the sole purpose of getting me to floss more. A few days ago it was whether the enamel on our bathtub is the same stuff as on our teeth.

Today it was, “What does a toothache look like?”

Since I’m not terribly interested in developing a toothache just to give her a live demonstration, we asked the iPhone this question, and found this page on abscessed teeth right away (thanks Dr. Internet). It includes a diagram of a cross-section of a tooth which was, thank goodness, good enough.

We then got sidetracked looking at a story about the oldest known toothache, which happened some 275 million years ago to Labidosaurus hamatus, an omnivorous reptile who lived on land and wore out his teeth chewing some very tough plants and crunchy insects.

2 Responses to ““What does a toothache look like?””

  1. Terri Gray

    I really could have given her a live demonstration not to mention I still have several “models” from Dental Hygiene school..

    Like

    Reply
    • shalahowell

      What a painful coincidence, Terri! But you know we will take you up on it next time we’re in your neck of the woods (viewing your Dental Hygiene models, not your toothache. Here’s hoping that’s cleared up by now).

      Like

      Reply

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