Student Health Center

Student Emergency Dental Services Patient Education

Your teeth are part of a very complex system that is primarily designed to allow you to chew your food (the
mastecatory system ). They also assist in your speech and add facial beauty. But there is more to your teeth
than meets the eye. A tooth is composed of a hard inner structure called dentin (1). The dentin structure is
encased by enamel (2) on the exposed surface and cementum (3) on the root surface. A hollow pulp cavity
(4) is located within the center of the tooth. This pulp cavity is fi lled with a jelly-like a substance containing
nerves and blood vessels. These nerves and blood vessels enter the tooth at the end of the root. Teeth are
supported by the surrounding gums (gingiva) (5) and bone (6). The care of your teeth is very important not
only for the teeth themselves, but also the supporting structures. There are four kinds of teeth: incisors,
canines, premolars and molars.