The shiny white outside of your teeth is enamel, the hardest stuff in your body. Ameloblasts made it while your teeth were still growing inside your jaw.
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Ameloblasts are tall, column-shaped cells. They stand side by side like a fence around a tooth that is still growing inside the jaw.
They cover the outside of the new tooth, right where the enamel needs to go.
Enamel is the hardest material in your whole body. It's even harder than bone!
Ameloblasts make enamel, layer by layer, while they slowly move outward. Minerals pack into the enamel and make it super hard.
Here's the catch: once a tooth comes into your mouth, its ameloblasts are gone. Your body can't make new enamel later. That's why brushing twice a day and not eating too many sweets is so important. You need your enamel to last!
Scroll up to the 3D model and press Make enamel to watch the hard coat grow.
By SciShow Kids. A fun video for kids.
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