Joy_Fossils Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 Hi again everyone! My son had a question that I thought I should share on the forum. The question is if there has ever been evidence of tooth decay in dinosaurs. We searched it up on google, but we couldn't find much on the subject. My son asked someone he knew on Instagram about it, and he said there has been cases of tooth decay, but it is very rare because of the rate that dinosaurs replaced their teeth. We also couldn't seem to find any images of dinosaur teeth with tooth decay. Are there any scientific papers on the subject that would be helpful? What are everyone's thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hadrosauridae Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 I dont don't believe it happened based on how often they replaced their teeth. Its certainly possible to have broken tooth that could have developed an infection, but "tooth decay" is a slow process that wouldnt have time to set in before the tooth was worn down or kicked out by the incoming tooth below. 1 2 "There is no shortage of fossils. There is only a shortage of paleontologists to study them." - Larry Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joy_Fossils Posted December 21, 2023 Author Share Posted December 21, 2023 1 hour ago, hadrosauridae said: I dont don't believe it happened based on how often they replaced their teeth. Its certainly possible to have broken tooth that could have developed an infection, but "tooth decay" is a slow process that wouldnt have time to set in before the tooth was worn down or kicked out by the incoming tooth below. Is it also possible that their food sources do not produce the bacteria that cause tooth decay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex S. Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 There's no real way to prove whether or not the specific bacteria were there. But I am positive as I can be (as an Evolutionary Microbiologist) there were bacteria back then that were capable of decaying teeth. @hadrosauridae is right though it's a long process and tooth replacement makes it unlikely. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 I think hadrosauridae is right. I know some examples from tooth cavities, but all are mammals. But animals that replace teeth might still get bad (pathological) teeth naturally or caused by some trauma, but assumably did not get bothered by those after next replacement. 1 There's no such thing as too many teeth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TyBoy Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 Did a Google search https://dinopedia.fandom.com/wiki/Tooth_decay_in_dinosaurs 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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