Under the shiny white outside of each tooth is a layer called dentin. Odontoblasts are the cells that make it, and they live inside your tooth!
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In the middle of each tooth is a soft core called the pulp. It has blood vessels and nerves. Odontoblasts line up in a row around the edge of the pulp.
Each odontoblast is tall and thin. It has one very long arm that reaches out into the dentin through a tiny tunnel.
Dentin is full of tiny tunnels, and each one holds the arm of an odontoblast. That's one reason a tooth can feel cold ice cream!
Odontoblasts make dentin. It's the yellowish layer under the white enamel, and it makes up most of each tooth.
They make most of it while the tooth is growing. After that, they keep adding a little more, slowly, for as long as the tooth is alive. If a tooth is worn or hurt, they can make extra dentin to help protect the pulp.
Scroll up to the 3D model and press Make dentin to see a new layer form.
By SciShow Kids. A fun video for kids.
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