Humans have four types of teeth. Incisors at the front cut, pointed canines grip and tear, premolars crush, and the big molars at the back grind. Put this 3D mouth on the board and press a name: every tooth of that kind lights up, and a box says what it does in plain words. Then switch on plaque, look inside a tooth, and zoom in on a taste bud. The More detail switch, top right, adds the proper names for ages 11 and up: central and lateral incisors, the hard palate and the upper and lower jaw (maxilla and mandible), and in the close-ups the crown, root canal, cementum, filiform and fungiform papillae and taste receptor cells.
The incisors cut and bite, the pointed canines grip and tear, the premolars crush and grind, and the big molars at the back grind food into small pieces. The model shows all 28 teeth of an adult without the wisdom teeth, with the tongue, the taste buds and the gums. Dentists in the United States also call the canines cuspids and the premolars bicuspids. Baby teeth are milk teeth in the UK and primary teeth to a dentist.
The Plaque switch shows where plaque hides, between the teeth, along the gum line and in the grooves, stained purple the way a dentist shows it. Look inside a tooth opens a molar cut in half: enamel, dentine, pulp, nerve, blood vessel, root, gum and jawbone. See a taste bud opens the top of the tongue close up, with its bumps, a taste pore and the taste buds hidden inside.
Disclosing tablets stain plaque so you can see the places brushing missed. Plaque is a sticky film of bacteria (germs) that is almost see-through, and the dye colours it, often purple. The Plaque switch does the same on the board, with no chewing and no purple tongues. The stain fades in where plaque hides: between the teeth, along the gum line and in the grooves of the back teeth. Press Clean and it is swept away.
A tooth has a hard white coat of enamel, a layer of dentine under it, and soft pulp in the middle with a nerve and blood vessels. The root holds it in the jawbone. Enamel is the hardest substance in your body, but it cannot grow back, which is why plaque matters. Press Molars, then Look inside a tooth, to see a molar cut in half with each part named. Dentine is spelled dentin in the United States.
Press a name to read what that part does. Quiz: press Labels once and every name hides behind a question mark until a pupil presses it. Turn the mouth by dragging. Draw on the board with the pen, and print a pupil sheet with blank labels and a word bank, or the board as it is. Share copies a link that opens it as you are showing it.
The words are pitched at ages 7 to 11: Years 3 to 6 in England, 2nd to 5th grade in the United States. In England it fits Year 4 science: "identify the different types of teeth in humans and their simple functions", and Year 2 work on hygiene. In the United States it supports NGSS 4-LS1-1.
What are the four types of teeth and what do they do?
Incisors are the flat, sharp teeth at the front: they cut and bite food. Canines are the pointed teeth beside them: they grip and tear food. Premolars, behind the canines, have two bumps on top that crush and grind food. Molars are the big teeth at the back: their wide, bumpy tops grind food into small pieces that are easy to swallow.
How many teeth do adults and children have?
An adult has 32 teeth: 8 incisors, 4 canines, 8 premolars and 12 molars, including 4 wisdom teeth right at the back that many people grow from about 17 years old, and some never get. The model shows 28, without the wisdom teeth. A child has 20 baby teeth, with no premolars, and they start to fall out at about 6.
Is the tongue map a myth?
Yes. The tongue map, with sweet at the tip and bitter at the back, is a myth. Every part of the tongue that has taste buds can sense all five tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami (savoury). The map came from a study of 1901 that was misread years later. That is why the model's taste buds twinkle all over the tongue and never in zones. Smell helps a lot with taste, too.
What does the simulation show?
A 3D dentist's model of the mouth with both jaws opened wide. Press a name to light up every tooth of that kind, or the tongue, the taste buds or the gums, and read what it does. The Plaque switch shows where plaque hides, with the purple dye a dentist uses. Two close-ups go further in: inside a tooth cut in half, and the top of the tongue with its taste buds.
What has been simplified?
Real plaque is almost see-through; the purple shows the dye a dentist uses to find it. On the tongue close-up only the mushroom-shaped bumps carry taste buds; in a real tongue some other bumps at the back and sides have them too, while the pointed bumps never do. The model has no wisdom teeth.
What age is it for?
The words are pitched at ages 7 to 11, for primary lessons on teeth and keeping them healthy. More detail adds the proper names for ages 11 and up.
Is it free?
Free to try. Opening Science Simulations uses one token for the whole day, however many times you come back to it. Every account gets 20 free tokens, and Pro gives 50 a day.
Where the food goes next is in the digestive system simulation. The skull and jawbone that hold the teeth are on the interactive human skeleton. All twelve are on the Science Simulations page. For models the class can spin, from skeletons to dinosaurs, try 3D Explorer.