Number 6

I thought I would dedicate this post to tooth number 6. Tooth #6 was the tooth of focus in our dental anatomy course last week and we were tested on it Monday. The "long-hand" name for this tooth is "Secondary maxillary right canine", I prefer the short-hand versiou, "#6". The canine is a very important tooth. It is the "fang" for all of the vampires, it is the sharpest anterior tooth and it is designed for thrashing and shredding wild beasts (maybe when we were all cavemen). Besides being a sweet looking tooth, it is unique in several ways. It has a unique lingual surface in that it has an additional ridge (when compared to the lateral and central incisors) right down the middle which also creates an additional lingual fossa, mesial and distal. It happens to be the longest tooth in the secondary dentition, this sucker is 27.8mm long and has the longest root with an hourglass shape (transverse section) which aids to keep this sucker in. This tooth is important for aesthetic reasons (canine eminence) and is a great tooth for anchoring in any sort of prosthetic device. I am a fan of the canine. *Disclaimer: Tooth in image is number 22, the lower left canine.