Originally published June 2020. Updated July 2021.
Are teeth bones? The short answer: No.
Teeth certainly look like bones. They’re hard, white, and occasionally break. What happens after they break, and why, is a core difference between teeth and bones.
When you break a tooth, it cannot regenerate to regrow itself. You need a dentist to restore it. When you break a bone, however, it immediately begins to regenerate and heal. Why?
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The Body of Bones
Although bones and teeth both contain calcium phosphate, which attributes to their hardness, bones are covered in layers of cells (periosteum) that generate new growth and healing. In addition, marrow at the center of your bones produces red and white blood cells, and blood vessels pass throughout the structure of bones. Teeth do not have a periosteum or bone marrow, and lack the ability to regrow.
No Bones About Clean Teeth
Indeed, the lack of living tissue and inability to grow with the rest of our body is one reason why we all get a larger set of permanent teeth. It’s also the reason our adult front teeth look so big and don’t appear to fit the rest of our body when they start coming in around age six or seven.
Remember, teeth can become infected without good oral hygiene and diet. Once a tooth is pulled, it’s not growing back.
Difference between teeth and bones at a glance:
| Teeth | Bones |
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