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Study Finds Human Teeth are as Tough as Shark Teeth

Posted by samzenpus on from the thank-you-science dept.

sciencehabit writes "Don't feel inadequate. Even though your teeth are largely composed of a mineral softer than that found in sharks, new tests suggest that they're just as tough. In sharks, the material coating the teeth is largely composed of fluoroapatite, a fluoridated phosphate mineral that in its pure form is harder than the hydroxyapatite found in the enamel of human teeth. But by pressing tiny metallic pyramids into the surfaces of teeth from a shortfin mako shark and a tiger shark, researchers found that the enameloid coating on shark teeth is no harder than that of the enamel on a human wisdom tooth. The teeth are, in fact, of comparable hardness because their surfaces aren't pure mineral but instead are made of mineral crystals bound together with proteins so that the material doesn't shatter under a sudden impact."

4 of 85 comments (clear)

  1. Bite back by dittbub · · Score: 5, Funny

    So I should bite the shark back?

  2. no, it's not fair to the shark by circletimessquare · · Score: 4, Funny

    http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/218901-overview

    The possibility of transmission of disease through human bites must be considered. Human bites have been shown to transmit hepatitis B, hepatitis C, herpes simplex virus (HSV), syphilis, tuberculosis, actinomycosis, and tetanus. Evidence suggests that it is biologically possible to transmit the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) through human bites, although this is quite unlikely. (SeePathophysiology, Presentation, and Workup.)

    A shark is considerate and will masticate and shred you into edible pieces in the course of minutes, you will be out of your misery in no time.

    But what you are proposing dooms the shark to die a slow miserable death due to the load of nasty diseases you carry in your mouth as a member of diseased lecherous species, homo sapiens.

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    1. Re:no, it's not fair to the shark by circletimessquare · · Score: 4, Funny

      Spoken like a petty homo sapiens. A species should know when it is just food.

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    2. Re:no, it's not fair to the shark by OhSoLaMeow · · Score: 4, Funny

      We're gonna need a bigger mouth.

      --
      They can take my LifeAlert pendant when they pry it from my cold dead fingers.