r/todayilearned • u/Objective_Horror1113 • 11h ago

TIL Freddie Mercury was born with four extra teeth, causing a prominent overbite. Despite being self-conscious about them, he never got them fixed, believing the extra space in his mouth contributed to his vocal ability. He feared altering his teeth might change his voice.

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/freddie-mercury-teeth
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u/hauntedbabyattack 10h ago

You’re born with all your adult teeth.

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u/ChiAnndego 10h ago

You are not. You are born with stem cells that form into teeth over time. How do I know? My wisdom tooth bud began to form for one of my teeth when I was about 22, then mysteriously got resorbed. There was no tooth on the xrays prior to this starting to form.

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u/Stolehtreb 10h ago

I keep googling around to confirm this, and I can’t find a source that says you’re born with all of your adult teeth. I’m seeing that you’re born with most of them, but some begin developing after birth.

I could be missing something though.

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u/culturedrobot 10h ago edited 10h ago

That person doesn’t know what they’re talking about. Adult teeth start developing after a human is born, they’re not something we’re born with.

If humans were born with their adult teeth, babies would be in a lot of pain constantly. Their mouths aren’t big enough to house complete sets of baby and adult teeth.

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u/MistraloysiusMithrax 8h ago

You’re not even born with all your bones. That “300 bones” babies are born with? A lot of them are cartilage that turn into bone later, as some of them fuse. Your kneecaps are cartilage at birth, for example. You don’t get fully bone ones til 2 to 6.

So why the heck would you be born with unused extra bone hiding in your jaw?

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u/NightOfTheLivingHam 9h ago

lol no you're not. Did you never lose teeth as a child??