Domestic dogs are subspecies of gray wolfs. They are one of the first animals that domesticated. Dogs are evaluated since domesticated. One of the signatures for domesticated dogs is teeth. How many teeth do dogs have?
Today domesticated dogs and wild dogs have different numbers of teeth. A domesticated dog has 42 teeth as adult. Only Chow Chows have 44 ones. Wild dogs have variety of teeth like 50 or over. Also puppies have 28 teeth and they are deciduous.
An adult dog has 16 premolars. These teeth are for shearing mostly. They have sharp edges. It’s possible to find them on upper and lower jaws. Missing premolars are a big problem for dogs.
Molars are other important teeth group for dogs. An adult dog has 10 molars. Top jaw has four molars and bottom jaw has six molars. Dogs use molars for grinding. Molars are most strong teeth of dogs. A strong molar can break a bone easily.
Dogs use incisors for biting. There are six incisors in the top jaw and six in bottom jaw. Some of them are very sharp but some of them are for grinding. Some wild dogs have more incisors than domestic dogs.
Canines are a sign especially for dogs. Domestic dogs have two canines in upper jaw and two in the bottom jaw. Dogs use canines for holding the food mostly. They can also break it from base with these teeth. Canines are very hard to lose on dogs but they can lose it in a big fight.
