4 NPS|NAFL NORTH

Teeth
and
Human Digestive
Body System
NPSNAFLNORTH|
KOCL|May2021
Content
My Teeth Page 3
Types of Teeth Page 4 - 11
Tooth Anatomy Page 12
Important Points – Teeth Page 13
Digestive System Page 14
Charaka Page 21
Flow Chart of Digestion Page 22
Points to remember Page 23
NPSNAFLNORTH|
KOCL|May2021
 My Teeth
Hi! I'm your tooth, Dantu.

I've been asked to represent the rest of your

teeth. Let me introduce them to you. Did you know?
Milk teeth are
You weren't born with our predecessors, the also called
baby teeth or the milk teeth. They started to deciduous teeth.
erupt in your mouth one by one when you
were about six to seven months old.

By the time you turned three years of age, Well, all is not lost because we
the milk teeth were about twenty in will be replaced by our
number. By your thirteenth birthday, you successors, the permanent teeth.
would have lost all of them. We range from 28 to 32 teeth.

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 Types of teeth

You must have

observed that all the
teeth in your mouth
do not look the
same and moreover,
their functions are
also different. Let us
hear them speaking
about themselves.

Different kinds of teeth

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 I am an incisor, and you have seven
more just like me in the front of
your mouth. We do the biting into
those chocolate chip cookies you
like so much. How do we look? We
are flat and have a sharp edge.
I am a pre-molar and you have
seven more like me distributed
equally on both the jaws, beside
the canines. We are broad and
flat, so we could grind food and
break it into fine pieces.

I am a molar, flat
I'm a canine and broader than
lodged beside the pre-molars.
the incisors. We are the last
We are four but not the least,
sharp teeth, three teeth on
two on either both sides of your
side of the jaws. We do a
incisors on great job by
each jaw. We crushing and
tear food. grinding those
crunchy carrots
you like so much!
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 Teeth
Come, let us see what I am made up of. Let's take a journey from the crown to
the root of the tooth. 4. Dentine – 2. Enamel –
the second outermost hard
5. The pulp contains the nerves
layer of the layer covering
and blood vessels of the tooth.
tooth the crown
It is underneath the dentine.
This is the bit which hurts when
1. The crown is the part
you have a toothache!
of the tooth above the
gum line.

6. Cementum
– outside
Bone
layer of the
root
7. The root is the part Blood vessel
of the tooth below the
gum line.
8. Nerve

3. Gum

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 1. The visible part of the tooth is called the crown.
2. The enamel is the tough, shiny, white outer surface of
the teeth.
3. The gums, a soft tissue, surrounds the base of the teeth.
4. The hard but porous tissue located under both the
enamel and cementum of the tooth is called the dentine.
It is harder than the bone below.
5. Pulp is the soft centre of a tooth which contains blood
vessels and nerves to nourish the dentine. 
6. Cementum is a layer of tough, yellowish, bone-like tissue
that covers the root of a tooth. It helps hold the tooth in
the socket. 
7. The root of the tooth is like an anchor which extends into
the jawbone.
8. The nerves around each tooth transmit signals
(conveying messages like hot, cold or pain) to and from
the brain. Blood vessels are tubes present in the centre
part of the tooth (pulp), through which blood circulates.

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 So, you see, we have a lot to be taken care of. We are called healthy only if we
are clean, strong and have healthy gums.

What happens to us, if proper

care is not taken?

We get tooth decay or dental

caries. Bacteria or germs that live
in our mouth attack us. They eat
the sugar in the food debris in our
mouth and produce an acid.

The acid damages us and we get

big holes or cavities. Our gums
too get damaged like this. Two
other problems we face are
plaque and tartar.

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 If you want to make your dentist happy, you can take care of us in three ways:
a. eating the right food to maintain healthy teeth
b. using the right brushing techniques and
c. maintain good oral hygiene

Chewing on fibre-rich
foods like carrots and
sugarcane gives us and
our gums good exercise!

Green vegetables, milk,

oranges, lemons,
bananas and fish are
good for your teeth.

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 Follow good brushing techniques to maintain good oral hygiene.

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 Dos Don’ts
Rinse your mouth with water after Do not eat anything, or drink
eating. sugary drinks after you brush your
teeth at night.
Brush your teeth in the morning Do not share your toothbrush with
and before going to bed. anyone.
Massage your gums with your Don’t use the same toothbrush for
finger. more than 6 months or after
getting sick.
Clean your tongue with a tongue Don’t use a hard bristled brush or
cleaner after brushing your teeth. a brush with too long a handle.
Replace your toothbrush when the  
bristles begin to wear down.
Have dental check-up every six  
months.

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 Tooth Anatomy

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 Let’s look at a few key words and some important points

Vocabulary Points to remember:

deciduous
·Milk teeth are the first set of teeth, later replaced by
predecessors
incisors permanent teeth.
canines ·There are four types of teeth.
molars ·An adult has 28 to 32 teeth.
crown
·Unhealthy teeth are a result of poor oral hygiene.
pulp
dentine ·Calcium and mineral-rich foods keep the teeth and gums
cementum healthy.
enamel ·Fibre-rich foods give good exercise to both teeth and gums.
debris ·Good brushing techniques help to maintain healthy teeth.

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DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
Now that you know about the importance of us (your teeth), who
help you chew and swallow your food, I would like to ask you - have
you wondered where your food goes after you eat it? Let us now
explore the interesting journey that the food you swallow follows:

DIGESTION - A Journey Inside

Vinod raced home as fast as he could. He had played so much

football. He was hot, dusty and hungry! He entered the kitchen and
his mood instantly changed! His favourite food was waiting for him!
A juicy, savoury burger with lettuce, cheese and tomatoes! Yummy!

Just looking at the burger, Vinod’s mouth began to water.

The thought of sinking his teeth into it made him thrilled. The
flavours that were about to dance across his tongue made him want
to jump with joy.

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 Vinod took a big bite of his burger and
chomped it loudly using all the teeth
that he could engage. His teeth
chewed the food into smaller pieces
and the salivary glands produced a
digestive juice called Saliva.

His tongue helped him mix the saliva with the

food by rolling the food around in his mouth. This
was important as, saliva contains digestive juices
that begin the breakdown of Carbohydrates.

It breaks down carbohydrates into simple sugars. A small flap of tissue, called the
Epiglottis, at the back of the mouth, prevents the food from entering the nasal
passages.
As the partially digested food called the Bolus travels down, the epiglottis covering
the throat prevents the food from entering the respiratory system.

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 Uvula

Tongue

The Uvula prevents food from entering the nasal cavity.

The muscles in the oesophagus tighten and loosen one after the other, to push
the food into his stomach.

This wave like movement which allows the food to be pushed into the stomach
through the oesophagus is called as Peristalsis.

Peristaltic waves occur in the oesophagus, stomach, and intestines.

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 Stomach
(Acids and enzymes
breakdown food)

In the stomach, partial digestion takes place. The stomach is a hollow sac-like
organ which churns the burger into a fine paste called chyme (kahym)while
releasing acids and enzymes for the breakdown of the burger.
The acid kills harmful germs called bacteria that may be present in the burger.

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 The partially digested food from Vinod’s stomach is now pushed into the small
intestine.
The small intestine is the real hero of the digestive system, where juices of the
digestive organs mix with the food to continue the rest of digestion.

First, The liver produces bile, which absorbs and breaks down fats.

Bile is stored in the gall bladder and

secreted from the liver.

Once the bile dissolves the fats, next,

the pancreas secrete pancreatic juice
to break down the carbohydrates,
proteins and fats in the food.

The blood vessels present in the wall

of the small intestine absorb the
nutrients of the food. Blood carries
these nutrients to the rest of Vinod’s
body.
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 The next stop for the
burger is the large
intestine. The main
function of this organ is to
absorb water and salts
from the remaining food.
The rectum is the last part
of the large intestine,
before reaching the anus.

It is the job of the rectum to

receive waste from the large
intestine and hold it there
until ready to be released.

The anus is the opening at the lower end of the digestive tract that expels the
remaining undigested food, also called as the waste (faeces(fee-seez) / excreta).

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 Why is the small intestine the hero of the digestive system?

When uncoiled, it would measure 20 feet

from end to end!

The small intestine breaks down the food so

our body can absorb all the vitamins,
minerals, proteins, carbohydrates and fats,
making it the hero of the digestive system.

What happens if the person eats too much?

If a person eats too many burgers or more
food than is needed, the body turns the
food into fat and stores it.

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 Charaka (1st Century AD)

Charaka was an Indian physician

who was the first to explain
digestion. He explained the
chemical activity taking place in
the body. Charaka said that the
body produces three
substances–bile, phlegm and
wind. According to him, illness
in a human body is caused
when the balance among these
three substances is disturbed.
To restore the balances, Charaka
prescribed medicinal drugs. He
also explained how blood
circulates in the human body.
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 Flow Chart
of Digestion

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 Points to remember
Points to remember
Vocabulary
digestive juice  Digestion is a process which changes food into simple
mouth substances, which the body is able to use.
epiglottis
 The mouth, food pipe, stomach, small intestine, large
saliva
food pipe intestine and rectum form the human digestive system.
stomach  Digestion of food is completed in the small intestine.
small intestine
liver  Useful substances from the digested food enter the blood
pancreas from the small intestine.
large intestine
 The undigested food is thrown out of the body through
rectum
anus the anus in the form of stools.
bacteria

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