• Mammals grow two sets of teeth, the first set

are called milk (decidious) teeth, and the

second set are called ‘permanent" teeth.

• Milk teeth grow in children between the ages

of 7 months and 24 months.
•

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• After that time, the child has a full set, 20 in
all, of milk teeth.

• Milk teeth are replaced gradually by

permanent teeth between the ages of 7 to 12
years old.

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• More teeth (molar teeth) then appear
between the 12th and 15th year, making 28
teeth in all.

• The last 4 teeth (called wisdom teeth) are

molars right at the back of the mouth; they
may appear at the 17th year, or up to several
years later.

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• This then completes the full set of 32
permanent teeth in an adult.

• Teeth grow from buds in the jaw, and

gradually push through the surface of the gum

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Human dentition

• Dentition is the arrangement and growth of

teeth.

• Human dentition includes three types of

teeth: (a) incisors; these are flat chisel-shaped
teeth; (b) canines, which are sharp, pointed
teeth; (c) molars; these are large, flat teeth
with sharp edges for cutting and grinding
food.

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• These teeth are illustrated in Fig. 24.

• Molar teeth are usually classified as pre-

molars and molars; the main difference being
that molars are not found in milk teeth,
whereas pre-molars are found in both milk
teeth and permanent teeth.

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Figure 24: Types of teeth

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 Incisors

• These are cutting teeth used for cutting and

biting off pieces of food
 Canines

• These are long and sharp teeth that are used

to hold and tear at food. Human canine teeth
are not so well developed as in carnivorous
animals.
Premolars

• These teeth are used to crush and grind soft

food
Molars

• These teeth are used for chewing and

grinding hard food
 Dental Formula

• The dentition of any animal can be written as

a dental formula, and the dental formula for
human dentition is:

2 1 2 3
i pm m
2 2
c
1 2 3

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 Figure 25:
Permanent teeth

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Figure 26: Structure of the tooth

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Structure of a tooth

• The crown of a tooth is that part projecting

above the gum.

• It is covered on the outside by enamel, the

hardest substance produced in the body.

• The main bulk of the tooth is composed of

dentine, a hard bone like substance; this
surrounds a pulp cavity.
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• Inside the pulp cavity is living tissue, called
pulp, which contains blood vessels and
nerves.

• An opening into the pulp cavity allows entry

for the blood vessels and nerves; this opening
becomes very small when the tooth stops
growing, and the root is then said to be
closed.

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• The tooth has a root which is sunk in a socket
in the jaw bone.

• The root is covered in cement, another bone-

like substance, and outside the cement is a
periodontal membrane, which fixes the tooth
in its socket.

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ENZYMES
Enzymes

• Enzymes are organic catalysts that speeds up

chemical reactions occurring in living cells.

• They speed up chemical reactions without

themselves being changed.

• Without enzymes, chemical reactions would

occur too slowly for life to exist.
Swallowing

• Food is passed from the mouth to the

oesophagus by swallowing.
• The food is first rolled into a ball called a
bolus.

• The epiglottis is partially closed and it

prevents food from going down into the
trachea.
Oesophagus

• The oesophagus is a muscular tube leading to the

stomach.

• The contraction of the muscles forces the bolus

down the oesophagus; once the bolus has entered
the tube, a wave of muscular contraction forces the
bolus to the stomach. This muscular contraction is
called Peristalsis.
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Peristalsis
The Stomach

• Food enters the stomach from the

oesophagus through the cardiac spincter.

• The food remains in the stomach for 1-3

hours.
• The pyloric spincter at the end of the stomach
retains the food until it is a liquid called
chyme.
The Stomach

• The stomach wall secretes gastric juices that

contains:

• Hydrochloric Acid- stops the action of salivary

amylase and makes the stomach acidic. It also
destroy the harmful bacteria in the stomach.

• Pepsin- Breaks down proteins into polypeptides

and then peptones.
The Stomach

• Rennin – curdles milk and thus separating the

protein in milk from the fat.

• The pyloric spinceter then relaxed and passes

the food to the small intestine
 SMALL INTESTINE

The small intestine consists of

three parts, the duodenum,
jejunum and ileum.
The duodenum

• This is the first part of the small intestine.

• Bile, Pancreatic and intestinal juices are

poured on the food here.
Bile

• The liver produces bile which is stored in

the gall bladder and enters the small intestine
via the bile duct.

• Bile has 2 important functions:

Bile

• Bile has 2 important functions:

1. It contains Sodium hydroxide that

neutralises the acid Hydrochloric acid. This
provides the best pH for the enzymes in the
small intestine to work at.
Bile

• Bile has 2 important functions:

2. Bile emulsifies fats, that is it breaks large

molecules of fat into smaller droplets which
makes it easier for the enzyme lipase to work
on it.
PANCREATIC JUICE

• The pancreas produce pancreatic juices which

contain amylase, protease and lipase.

• Amylase continues to convert starch into

maltose.
• Lipase converts fats into fatty acids and
glycerol.
PANCREATIC JUICE

• Proteases such as trypsin split up peptones

into peptides.
Intestinal Glands

• The glands in the wall of the small intestine

produce intestinal juice which contains :

• 1. Maltose which breaks down maltose into

glucose.

• 2. Peptidase which converts peptides into

amino acids.
• Lipase continues to break down fat.
Intestinal Glands

• The glands in the wall of the small intestine

produce intestinal juice which contains :

• 1. Maltose

• 2. Peptidase

• 3. Lipase
Ileum

• Digestion of some foods are completed, in the

ileum but the most important function of the
ileum is absorption.
• This is the passage of digested foods, salt
vitamins and water through the walls of the
gut in the transport system
• Villus – Tiny finger like projections that have a
large surface area for absorption.

• Micro villi – Brush like features of the villus

that are only visible with an electron
microscope. They have a large surface area for
absorption.

• Lacteal – Passes fats to lymph vessel, this

absorbs fatty acids and glycerol.
• Blood capillaries – lead to the hepatic portal
vein of the heart. It absorbs glucose and
amino acids.

• Epithelium - single layer of cells that allows

for diffusion and some active transport of
digested food into the blood stream
• Mucus – cells present in the epithelium that
allows food to pass through it.

• Muscular wall – circular and longitudinal

muscles that allows food to pass through it by
peristalsis.
How the macro nutrients are absorbed.

• Glucose and amino acids passes through the

epithelial cells , into the blood vessels by
active transport

• Fatty acids and glycerol and some un digested

fat droplets passes across the walls of the villi
into vessels called lacteals by diffusion.