What Do Your Teeth Say About You?

I just finished doing a much-needed crown prep on a patient. In small areas of her teeth, I had previously noticed some discoloration of parts of her six-year molars. Upon discussion, we discussed a short bout of fevers that were linked to seizures in her infancy that she was told about by her parents. Interesting things like this often prompt me to ask, given recent discoveries in development, what our teeth say about us. We find new linkages and correlations every day. An example is that between bacteria in “straight” or normally aligned teeth as compared to “crooked” or malposed teeth there are actual differences in genome and virulence. What will we find in the future? Because in essence, our teeth are time machines to the time during which they were developing in our infancy. What do your teeth say about you?