function of theeth shearing and cutting
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Answer:
Most carnivores have carnassial, or shearing, teeth that function in slicing meat and cutting tough sinews. The carnassials are usually formed by the fourth upper premolar and the first lower molar, working one against the other with a scissorlike action.
Teeth assist animals in obtaining food and breaking it down for efficient digestion. Animals who lose their teeth are generally unable to ingest enough nutrients to survive.
The specific mechanical functions that teeth must perform depends on the animal’s food source. The animal may need to pierce skin and tear meat, grind up fibrous vegetables, or do some combination of the two.
Predators often boast sharp, pointed or even serrated teeth to assist them in taking down prey and eating raw meat.
Herbivores on the other hand typically have long, sharp incisors at the front of their mouths to assist in cutting bite-sized pieces off of plants and well as molars with broad, textured surfaces in the back of the mouth which grind and break down plant matter for easier digestion by the stomach.
Humans eat both meat and a variety of plant matter. As a result, we have several types of teeth which are good for breaking down different types of food:
- Front teeth, or incisors, which cut food into bite-sized chunks.
- Sharp, pointed “canine” teeth, which can be used to tear chunks off of meat and other foods.
- Molars and pre-molars which crush vegetable matter and other foods into a pulp.