0:00

Okay, Hermey, let her rip! Mark!

0:05

Did you just give Hermey the

0:07

Elephant an accordion and symbols? No!

0:10

I gave Hermey the Elephant an

0:12

accordion symbols AND an air

0:14

horn! I

0:20

wanted to get everybody's attention to tell them about the

0:22

Smarty Pass. It's

0:25

a special pass that gets you ad-free

0:27

versions of all our shows, like Smash

0:29

Boom Best, Forever Ago, and Brains

0:31

On. Couldn't you have just said that?

0:34

Maybe? But it also

0:36

gets you exclusive bonus episodes

0:39

and discounts on events and merch!

0:42

Sign up at smartypass.org. Now,

0:45

could I have said all that, Ms. Bloom? You

0:48

literally just did. Well,

0:51

good point. But I definitely

0:53

need the grand volume of a musically

0:55

inclined elephant to tell the world that...

0:58

If 300 people sign

1:00

up this February, we'll

1:03

throw a virtual party

1:05

for all Smarty Pass

1:07

subscribers! Okay,

1:09

that is a pretty big announcement.

1:11

Smarty Pass is an elephant-sized way

1:14

to support the Brains On universe.

1:16

You power us and get a

1:18

ton in return. So, subscribe now

1:21

and help unlock a special party.

1:23

Go to smartypass.org. Exactly,

1:27

Hermey! It is a big deal.

1:30

Yeah, but let's cool it on

1:32

giving the animals incredibly loud noisemakers.

1:35

Okay, fine. But you're gonna

1:38

have to tell the tiger his DJ said

1:40

is cancelled. You're

1:49

listening to Brains On, where we're serious about being

1:51

curious. Brains On is

1:53

supported in part by a

1:56

grant from the National Science

1:58

Foundation. All

2:00

right, all right, quiet down. I

2:04

said quiet down. Welcome

2:07

to Camp Cozy Molars, the one

2:09

and only summer camp for baby

2:11

teeth. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh,

2:13

summer camp? I'm going to paddle to new and

2:15

I'm going to make friends and play friends. I'm

2:17

going to discover my long lost tooth twin and

2:19

have to plan to reunite our tooth parents

2:21

with hilarious consequences. Settle

2:24

down, baby teeth. I

2:26

need all of your toothy focus on me. Now

2:29

time for a Camp Cozy Molar

2:31

tradition, telling scary stories around

2:33

the campfire. Who's got a scary

2:35

story? I've got one. It

2:40

was a dark and stormy night. Taylor

2:42

the tooth was getting ready for bed

2:44

when she realized she was out of

2:46

toothpaste. All

2:50

right, all right, let's not make these

2:53

stories too scary. This is

2:55

a summer camp for baby teeth after all,

2:57

not adult teeth, the who's next. I

2:59

have a scary story. It's called Picture

3:02

Day. There once was a

3:04

baby tooth named Tony, and Tony was

3:06

very excited for Picture Day. He

3:09

was sure his picture would be the very best.

3:11

But one thing Tony the tooth didn't

3:14

realize. He

3:20

has finished stuck on him. Oh,

3:23

the corner. You're

3:28

listening to Braid's On from APM Studios. I'm

3:32

Molly Bloom, and I'm here with Aya from Atlanta,

3:34

Georgia. Hi, Aya. Hi, Molly. Today

3:37

we're talking all about our teeth,

3:39

those amazing little appendages in

3:41

our mouths that help us chew gum,

3:43

nibble popcorn, and crunch on carrot sticks.

3:46

Our teeth also help us make sounds and form words.

3:50

Right. You've probably heard that it's important

3:52

to brush and floss your teeth

3:54

because it's a little bit more difficult to

3:56

brush and floss your teeth because it helps

3:58

prevent cavities. But. What is a

4:01

cavity? That's what our listener, Bonnie, was

4:03

wondering. Hi, my name is Bonnie and

4:05

I'm from Dallas, Texas. I

4:07

was wondering how do you get a cavity in your

4:10

teeth and how does the dentist fix it? So

4:12

Aya, what have you heard about

4:15

cavities? I've

4:17

heard that they hurt a lot and you have to

4:19

go to the dentist to get them fixed

4:21

or treated. Have

4:24

you ever gotten one? No, I haven't

4:26

gotten one but I feel like I'm going to get one

4:28

at least once in my life. Yeah,

4:31

most people do for sure. Have

4:33

you lost any teeth yet? Yeah,

4:36

I've lost seven teeth and I had to get two

4:38

of them pulled out. Oh,

4:40

wow. Okay, so how old were you

4:42

when you lost your first tooth? I

4:45

was almost eight. I was seven.

4:48

Have you kept all your baby teeth?

4:50

Yep. Yeah, I kept all my baby teeth

4:52

growing up too and I think they're somewhere in

4:54

my parents' house still. A

4:57

little box of teeth. Totally normal thing. Yeah,

5:00

totally. How do you feel about going to

5:02

the dentist? Some people are

5:04

scared about going to the dentist

5:06

but honestly, the dentist is

5:08

not that bad. It's kind of

5:10

fun because our dentist gives us toys

5:12

after we're done and it doesn't hurt.

5:16

That's a great deal. So when

5:18

you go to the dentist, which is your

5:21

favorite part of the experience? When

5:23

they clean our mouths because they

5:26

gave us a bunch of options

5:28

of toothpaste with marshmallow, strawberry, raspberry,

5:30

chocolate, and I always choose chocolate

5:33

because I love chocolate. I've

5:36

never had chocolate toothpaste. That sounds great.

5:38

It is. Oh, I'm jealous.

5:41

So what is your least favorite

5:43

part of going to the dentist? When

5:47

the dentist comes and uses all those tools

5:49

to open your mouth and check and it

5:51

kind of hurts to keep your mouth open

5:54

for that long. Or when they ask

5:56

you a question and you're like, ah, heh, heh, heh,

5:58

heh. And you can't really answer. It's a

6:00

little awkward. Yeah, it is. We're

6:03

going to talk about cavities in a bit,

6:05

but first, we need some toothy background. When

6:08

you're first born, we

6:12

don't have any teeth at all. But

6:14

by the time you're about six months old,

6:16

you start getting your first baby teeth. Over

6:20

time, you'll get more and more baby teeth.

6:24

And by the time you're about three years old, you'll have

6:26

20 of them. And

6:28

like most mammals, have two sets of teeth

6:30

in their lives. So just

6:32

a couple years later, around age five,

6:34

you'll start losing your baby teeth and

6:37

they'll be replaced by your larger adult

6:39

teeth. Those teeth will last you

6:41

a lifetime if you take care of them. And

6:44

here's something that might surprise you about your

6:46

teeth. They have different layers, almost like a

6:48

raw chicken egg. The

6:51

outside layer of your tooth is called the

6:53

enamel. It's like the shell on

6:55

the outside of the egg and it's the hardest

6:57

substance in your body, even harder

7:00

than your bone. Its

7:02

job is to protect your tooth and keep it strong.

7:05

Underneath the enamel shell is a layer

7:07

of something called dentin. You know how

7:09

if you crack a raw egg, there's

7:11

clear stuff inside? Well,

7:14

the dentin layer is kind of like the

7:16

clear part inside of the egg. But

7:18

instead of being runny liquid, dentin

7:21

is hard, like bone. And

7:23

that helps it protect the very inside of

7:25

your tooth. That very

7:27

inside part is the third layer. It's

7:29

called the pulp. The pulp

7:32

is like the yellow yolk at the center

7:34

of the egg and it's full of blood

7:36

and special cells called nerves. The

7:38

nerves help your teeth sense when something is

7:41

very hot or very cold. So

7:43

when you bite into a popsicle, the

7:46

nerves inside your teeth send a

7:48

message to your brain that says,

7:50

whoa, that's cold. The pulp

7:53

at the center of each tooth is also

7:55

really important because it brings blood to

7:57

the tooth and helps keep it alive. Teeth

8:00

aren't like hair or nails. They're

8:02

actually living, feeling parts of your

8:04

body. Yeah. There's a lot

8:07

going on inside your teeth that you can't

8:09

see. And get this, there's

8:11

also a lot of teeny, tiny

8:13

microscopic things living on your teeth

8:15

that are invisible to the naked

8:17

eye, like bacteria.

8:20

What, the what? We've got bacteria

8:23

in our mouths? We sure do.

8:26

All of us have millions of bacteria

8:28

living on every surface inside our mouths.

8:31

Our tongues, our teeth, even the inside

8:33

of our cheeks. It's like a big

8:36

bacteria party in there that never stops.

8:38

A party? This I've got

8:40

to see. Let's bust out the

8:42

zoom ray and check it out. No,

8:44

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

8:46

no, no, no, no, no. Whoa.

8:49

This is a party. I'm

8:51

guessing those are the bacteria? Weee!

8:56

Anyone want to play pin the tail on the

8:58

paramecia? Oh, yes.

9:00

That's definitely a bacteria party. Who

9:03

knew there'd be so many different

9:05

kinds? There are round ones, long,

9:07

skinny bacteria that look like hot

9:09

dogs, even ones shaped like

9:11

corkscrews. Excuse me. Hello.

9:14

Over here. Molly, I

9:16

think that bacteria is trying to get

9:18

your attention. Molly? I

9:22

thought I'd recognize your voice.

9:25

Wow, wow, wow. It's

9:27

such an honor to meet you.

9:30

Big fan. Huge. Thank

9:33

you. That's bacteria. But

9:35

you can call me Babs. Huh?

9:38

I didn't realize bacteria listened to

9:40

podcasts or were so

9:42

energetic. Oh, we

9:44

may be microscopic, but our

9:47

appetite for high quality podcast

9:49

content is ginormous. Babs,

9:51

Babs, Babs, Babs, Babs, Babs, brings on. Well,

9:54

we're glad we ran into you

9:56

because you wanted my recommendation for

9:58

best party snacks because it's Definitely

10:00

taste going to be followed by

10:02

followed anywhere I'm followed by Actually,

10:04

we wanted to talk with you because

10:06

we're doing an episode all about why we

10:08

get cavities And we were just

10:10

talking about how our mouths are full of

10:12

bacteria Oh, yeah, that's true! All

10:15

humans have bacteria in their mouths And

10:17

that's totally normal! Your mouths

10:19

are the perfect place for

10:21

us Not too hot,

10:24

not too cold, and lots

10:26

and lots of spit Just

10:29

like Goldilocks finding her perfect bed

10:32

Uh, Babs, I'm pretty sure the bed

10:34

Goldilocks found wasn't full of spit Are

10:37

you sure? I could've sworn

10:39

it was Nope, definitely

10:42

not Oh well,

10:44

agree to disagree. Like that old

10:46

human saying goes One person's

10:48

trash is another person's perfect

10:50

warm, spitty bed Anywho,

10:53

humming bacteria in your mouth might

10:55

sound a little weird or creepy But

10:57

we do a ton of good stuff

10:59

for your bodies Oh yeah, the

11:01

bacteria in our mouths help us break down the

11:04

food we eat so it's easier for us to

11:06

digest Bingo,

11:09

also, how could bacteria like me

11:11

can fight off other, less helpful

11:13

bacteria Like the kind that can

11:15

cause diseases? And we even help

11:17

boost your immune system to keep

11:19

you healthy Sounds a lot

11:21

like the bacteria that live in our stomach

11:23

and guts They help break down

11:25

the food we eat and keep us healthy too

11:28

For sure, they do a lot of

11:30

work to keep our bodies running smoothly

11:33

Exactly! But for

11:35

the record, those gut bacteria

11:37

definitely aren't your biggest fans,

11:40

Molly They don't know your

11:42

cat's name, Winslow,

11:45

or your favorite healthy snack,

11:47

cottage cheese Wow,

11:51

Babs really is your number one fan,

11:53

Molly Hey, how did

11:55

you know my cat? Molly, I, uh,

11:57

so nice to meet you, but I

11:59

gotta... I'm up next for the bacteria

12:01

karaoke contest, and I gotta go warm

12:03

up these old pipes. Ah,

12:06

who games do you wanna hit

12:08

the sun? Ah, who games

12:10

do you wanna hit the sun? Okay,

12:13

let's zoom back out for a bit. Me,

12:15

me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me,

12:17

me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me,

12:19

me. So we've got this

12:22

big family of bacteria in our mouths having

12:24

a party all the time, but how does

12:26

all this connect back to cavities? Well,

12:29

sometimes this family of bacteria gets thrown

12:31

out of whack, and that can have

12:33

a big impact on your teeth. But

12:36

before we get to that, I've got something

12:38

else for us to sink our teeth into.

12:41

It's time for the... Are

12:50

you ready to hear it, Aya? Yep. Alright,

12:53

here it is. What

12:56

do you

12:58

think? Okay,

13:01

it kinda sounds maybe

13:04

something you have to pull and then

13:06

it goes down, but it keeps bouncing

13:08

a little while, or you know those

13:11

doorstop thingies that have springs

13:13

on them? Kinda sounds like it rattling

13:15

back and forth. Yes, I can

13:17

totally hear that. Should we hear it again and see if

13:19

we can get any other thoughts? Yes.

13:22

Okay, here it is. Hmm,

13:24

new ideas. Maybe

13:32

something like spinning, spinning, and then

13:35

landing, and like keeps spinning

13:37

while it's landing a bit. These are

13:39

all really good ideas. I have no idea what this is either.

13:42

So what we've heard is something kinda... They're

13:44

like a bouncing sound. Yeah,

13:46

kind of. Okay, well

13:48

we're gonna hear it again, get another chance

13:51

to guess, and hear the answer after the

13:53

credits. So keep listening. Hey

13:57

friends, we're working on an episode all

13:59

about... out to matches. It was

14:01

incredible little 1v6 that makes fire

14:03

when you strike them on a surface. And

14:06

we want to hear from you. If you

14:08

could come up with a new name for matches,

14:10

what would it be? Maybe the

14:13

flaming twig or the fire

14:15

fairy? Aya, what do you think? Do you have

14:17

a new name for matches? Um,

14:21

maybe like, sparky sticks?

14:23

Like a magic thing

14:27

that eventually starts fires. I

14:30

like sparky sticks. That is much more descriptive because

14:32

like, the word matches. It's sort of a strange

14:35

word. It doesn't really describe what it's doing, right?

14:37

Yeah, there's like another meaning for matches

14:39

though. Sometimes you may be confusing. Sparky

14:42

sticks. It is. Well,

14:44

listeners, record yourself telling us about your ideas

14:46

for a better name for matches. Send them

14:49

to us at brains-on.org and while you're

14:51

there, you can send us messages and questions. Like this.

14:54

Hi, my name is Abigail

14:58

and my question is why

15:00

are flags different in

15:02

each country in the

15:05

world and how did

15:07

the United States come

15:09

up with our flags?

15:11

That's brains-on.org/contact. And keep

15:13

listening. Before

15:19

listening to brains-on, I'm Molly. And I'm

15:21

Aya. And holy molars,

15:23

we're talking all about teeth.

15:26

Specifically, why we get cavities.

15:28

Before the break, we learned that teeth have

15:30

three layers, just like an egg. Enamel

15:33

is on the outside like the shell. Denton

15:35

is in the middle, like the clear part

15:37

of the egg. And the pulp is at

15:39

the center of the tooth, just like the

15:41

yolk. We also learned there's a

15:43

ton of bacteria in our mouth. A

15:47

lot of that bacteria is really helpful. Right.

15:49

The kind of bacteria that breaks down food

15:51

and keeps our immune systems healthy. But

15:53

There's also other kinds of bacteria

15:55

in our mouths, and some of

15:58

these bacteria are troublemakers. Let's

16:00

the physio my out again and take a look.

16:07

Check out those dudes! Hate.

16:10

You. Want a piece of meat? Tough guy

16:12

says that, Are you right here Right now

16:15

I'm going to dance so. Hard. You're not gonna

16:17

know what. Nobody

16:19

can kept pass like needed. By

16:22

himself. I've

16:25

lost like nobody's business. The

16:27

two types and the dance cat. When

16:30

I never thought I'd ever get

16:32

to see a bacteria can saw

16:34

this could be a great step

16:36

up sequel. Step. Up. Bacteria

16:38

Boogie could be the next blockbuster

16:40

hit. So yes, as long as

16:42

the bacteria in your mouth are

16:44

moving and goofing around, it's really

16:46

no problem. It becomes a problem

16:48

when the troublemaker bacteria stick around

16:50

for too long and start to

16:52

take over take over. So what

16:54

are these troublemakers like? Do they

16:56

were not in leather jackets and

16:58

say walk. To.

17:01

The litter. These.

17:03

Troublemaker Bacteria do not wear matching

17:06

leather jackets or jaywalk, but they

17:08

do litter, sort of. You see

17:10

that group of Troublemaker Bacteria over

17:12

there. Wow

17:20

they look tough and I didn't

17:22

even. They're eating

17:24

the sugar from the food we

17:26

chew and any sweet drinks we

17:29

sip is he is such us

17:31

eating our food. the bacteria in

17:33

our mouths eat it too. And

17:35

bacteria love sugar. Namely,

17:38

get. A

17:44

letter says he. Said at. The. Better

17:46

you get lost of energy from eating

17:48

the sugar in our food and all

17:50

this energy makes them poop out this

17:52

sticky acid onto our peace. You.

17:55

Littering This is the worst

17:57

kind of littering. Yeah. and

18:00

it's not great for your teeth. All

18:02

these sugar gobbling bacteria that stick to

18:04

your teeth are called plaque. And

18:07

when that plaque hardens, it's called tartar.

18:10

Oh, I've heard of both of those things

18:12

from my dentist. I never knew it was

18:14

bacteria. I know. And

18:17

the more plaque and tartar that build up,

18:19

the worse it is for your teeth. If

18:21

this kind of bacteria hangs around and keeps

18:24

snacking, they'll make more and more acid. And

18:27

that acid can eventually eat a little

18:29

hole in your tooth. That

18:32

hole is called a cavity. It's

18:34

like the bacteria are using the acid to dig

18:36

a tiny tunnel in your tooth. Exactly.

18:40

Did someone say dig? We

18:43

love to dig. We dig it. Yeah,

18:45

almost as much as we love sugar. These

18:49

guys are the worst. Let's zoom

18:51

out, shall we? Please. Zoom

18:54

in, zoom in, zoom in, zoom in, zoom in, zoom

18:56

in, zoom in. So

18:58

that's how cavities form. The troublemaker

19:00

bacteria get comfy and start eating

19:03

the sugar in your mouth. Then

19:05

they poop out acid, which starts to wear

19:07

down the enamel on your teeth, and that

19:09

makes a hole called a cavity. We

19:12

know bacteria like sugar. Are there other

19:14

foods that can make cavities worse? Yeah,

19:17

they especially love sweet, sticky things like

19:19

candies and caramel. But they also like

19:22

starchy foods, like potato chips or crackers

19:24

that can get stuck in your teeth

19:26

and hang out for a while. Ah,

19:30

makes sense. If the food

19:32

sticks around, that means more time for

19:34

the troublemaker bacteria to hang around. So

19:37

to avoid getting a cavity, it's

19:39

important to keep all those bacteria

19:41

moving and grooving. And you can

19:43

keep the bacteria moving by brushing

19:45

twice a day and flossing regularly.

19:48

Exactly. Speaking of toothbrushes, I

19:50

am. If you could make the toothbrush

19:52

of your dreams, what would

19:54

it look like? Would it have special tools, a special

19:56

name? What would it do? Tell me about it. This

19:58

is an interesting thing to do. think about. Maybe

20:00

it could be it could

20:03

look like a normal electric toothbrush and

20:05

then have two compartments and

20:07

one of the compartments could like hold

20:09

little flosses in there since you

20:12

said that flossing is really important and then

20:14

there would be another compartment so when you're

20:16

done brushing you take the brush part and

20:18

put it into the compartment take the floss

20:20

out and attach it to a little hook

20:22

thing and then you can use the normal

20:24

toothbrush and it can help you dig into

20:27

the spots that you need to floss more.

20:29

I love that it was so useful. Sounds

20:31

like an amazing design. I think maybe you

20:33

should be an engineer when you grow

20:35

up. Maybe. Would this new

20:38

fancy toothbrush have a special name? Yeah.

20:41

Shine-o-rama. Like to shine your teeth.

20:43

Oh yeah. I like it. The

20:45

Shine-o-rama. Well we also asked listeners to describe

20:48

the toothbrush of the future and here's what

20:50

they came up with. Hi.

20:52

This is what my toothbrush would

20:55

be. It would be like a

20:57

robot with on toothbrush arms and

20:59

it would brush its teeth and

21:01

do everything like put the toothpaste on and

21:03

get it wet and stuff. Toothbrushes in

21:05

the future are like vacuums that

21:08

suck up all the bad things.

21:11

And I tried to put toothpaste on. The

21:13

toothpaste comes out of the toothpaste compartment

21:15

and when it's time to use your

21:17

mouthwash, the mouthwash comes out of the

21:19

mouthwash compartment. I would make

21:22

it fly and it

21:25

would already know that

21:27

I wanted it to

21:30

toothbrush so it

21:32

would be like it's zero

21:34

minutes so it like

21:36

already did it. And when

21:39

you're all done brushing your teeth and

21:41

washing your mouth out it has speakers

21:43

that remind you to floss. My future

21:45

toothbrush would be a screen and a

21:48

camera with your dentist on it and

21:50

your dentist telling where you should

21:53

brush your teeth. My toothbrush of

21:55

the future Would shape

21:57

just to get different parts of your

21:59

mouth. We

22:03

repeatedly to to for his eye

22:05

dancers and you can put them

22:07

in your mouth on local com

22:09

que for to come on. The

22:11

little awful brushing foie gras saw

22:14

us are are all. Of

22:17

us coal fired spray or

22:19

just crash whereas you had

22:21

braces are some out little

22:23

hurry that i would go

22:26

under your. Braces and clean

22:28

your teeth for a

22:30

few reasons: I

22:33

would guess. The braces

22:35

without any pets are fighting for. Got

22:37

to brush your teeth and will come

22:39

to embarrass us at of all your

22:42

friends in pressure to for you factors

22:44

such would have a else in many

22:46

tv sack of watch tv while i

22:49

was for some might look something know

22:51

cause it was a nice and then

22:53

you would put it in her mouth

22:56

a run for for so but soon

22:58

and then on. Keen idea. At

23:01

the same time. I would be

23:04

lane in my badge. Been

23:06

listening to bring. Be

23:12

brushing. My teeth and fly. And

23:15

it's all signs in

23:18

my dad when. Giant

23:23

smiles and thanks go out to

23:25

grace the com Clara, Dassault, Solomon,

23:27

Katie, Gabon, Eleanor it lists are

23:29

sierra lie lot and you're an

23:31

atmosphere according their breast past it

23:33

ideas am sending them to us

23:35

cel Iowa where we. Sell

23:37

we know we can prevent cavity my brush

23:39

and floss in our kids. do

23:42

is we already have the capacity

23:44

getting cavities is totally normal both

23:46

kids and adults can get them

23:48

and most people have at least

23:50

one in their lifetimes but the

23:53

good news set cavities are super

23:55

successful see you double feel i

23:57

talked to doctor genes star about

23:59

this. She's a pediatric dentist at

24:01

the University of California San Francisco,

24:03

which means she's a dentist who

24:05

works with kids. And she

24:07

said, if you have a cavity, the dentist

24:09

will start by cleaning your teeth. So

24:12

what the dentist does is

24:15

they use a little tool to clean the

24:17

tooth. They clean the outside of the tooth

24:19

and even clean a little bit of the

24:21

inside of the tooth. And we

24:23

look really closely to make sure there's no

24:26

germs left in the tooth. The

24:28

dentist can usually see the cavity just

24:30

with their eyes or by using their

24:32

special magnifying glasses. Once they

24:34

find the hole, they fill it. And that's

24:36

why it's called a filling. And

24:39

then where the cavity germs have

24:41

made a hole in the tooth or

24:43

made the tooth not as strong, we

24:46

replace that part of a tooth with

24:48

a strong layer. Sometimes I call it

24:50

like a tooth play-doh. And

24:52

what it does is it makes your tooth

24:55

very, very, very strong in

24:57

the spot where the cavity was.

25:00

And it's even stronger than it was

25:03

before. That strong layer of

25:05

tooth play-doh is also called

25:08

filling material. And it makes the

25:10

tooth even stronger than it was before.

25:12

And the best part, that cavity can't

25:14

come back to the same exact spot

25:16

where you put that tooth play-doh. It's

25:19

super protected. Right. It's also worth pointing

25:21

out that some people get more cavities

25:23

than others. And there are lots of

25:25

different reasons for that. So

25:28

it is a balance of all

25:30

sorts of things. Not only cleaning your

25:32

teeth, but it's what

25:34

you're eating. It's what types of germs

25:36

are in your mouth that comes maybe

25:39

from your family. And it

25:42

has to do also with where you live

25:45

and your water. There's a lot of things

25:47

that go into cavities. So

25:49

there are lots of different things that could

25:51

make some of us have more cavities than

25:54

others. And some of those things are out

25:56

of our control. But we do have control

25:58

when it comes to taking care of it. of

26:00

our teeth. That's the whole tooth and

26:02

nothing but the tooth. Your

26:07

teeth are living things with layers just like

26:09

an egg. All of us

26:11

have millions of bacteria living in our mouth.

26:13

A lot of that bacteria is really good

26:16

and helps keep us healthy. But

26:18

there's also troublemaker bacteria in your

26:20

mouth and these bacteria love to

26:22

eat sugary stuff stuck in your

26:25

teeth. When they eat sugar, these bacteria

26:27

poop out acid that can wear little

26:29

holes in your teeth. It's called cavities.

26:32

Flushing and flossing your teeth help keep

26:34

the bacteria from sitting in the same

26:36

place for too long and making cavities.

26:39

But if you do get a cavity, the good news

26:41

is that your dentist can fix it. That's it for

26:44

this episode of BrainHack. This episode

26:47

was written by Ruby Guthrie

26:49

and Shayla Farza. It was

26:51

produced by Molly Bloom, Rosie

26:53

DuPont, Anna Goldfield, Aran

26:56

Uldisalaki, Anna Legle and

26:58

Mark Sanchez. We had editing help

27:00

from Stan and Cotton, sound design by Mark

27:02

Sanchez and we had engineering help from Derek

27:05

Ramirez and Matthew McWilliams. Matt Perlman

27:07

is our executive producer. The executives

27:09

in charge of APM Studios are

27:11

Chandra Kavati, Alex Shafford and Joanne

27:13

Griffith. Special thanks to Sarah Hussain,

27:16

Jude Mujid, Erica Romero, Samantha Fields,

27:18

Jeff Jones, Brutus Gilbert and Sarah

27:20

Shines. Brains On is a non-profit

27:22

public radio program. There are lots

27:24

of ways to support the show. Head to

27:27

brainson.org. While you're there, you

27:29

can send us mystery sounds, drawings and

27:31

questions. And you can subscribe to

27:33

our Discord server. To give to a special ticket

27:35

to Brains On Universe bonus content, add

27:38

free episodes. Okay,

27:41

Aya, are you ready to hear that

27:43

mystery sound again? Oh yes. Okay,

27:46

here it is. So

27:54

last time you thought maybe something spinning and

27:56

falling, something, the

27:58

little door stopper. vibrating. Do

28:00

you have any new thoughts? Honestly

28:03

I think I'm gonna stick with my answers.

28:05

I can't think of anything else. Yeah

28:09

I'm gonna guess it's

28:12

a tiny creature

28:15

tap dancing in

28:18

the kitchen on the counter like

28:20

a teddy bear come to life.

28:24

That's normal right? Mm-hmm. Sure.

28:26

Okay sure okay cool. Should we hear the answer? Yes.

28:30

Okay here it is. My

28:32

name is Stephanie and I live in

28:34

Victoria Australia. That was the sound

28:36

of me rolling a dice on a table. Oh

28:39

rolling a dice. It makes a lot of

28:41

sense. It does make a lot

28:43

of sense. Okay I feel like we weren't that far

28:45

off. You were saying something spinning and dropping. Yeah. The

28:48

dice was spinning in the air and dropping

28:50

and then landing and then

28:53

landing. Exactly. So I think you were pretty

28:55

close. Excellent mystery sound

28:57

and excellent guessing. Now

29:04

it's time for the brains honor roll.

29:07

These are the kids who keep this

29:09

show going with their questions, ideas, mystery

29:11

sounds, drawings and high-five. Nidal from Cairo,

29:13

Egypt, Cameron from Shriver, Louisiana, Amelia from

29:16

Murray, Utah, Ben from Seattle, Olivia, Laurel

29:18

and Audrey from Menifee, California, Amin from

29:20

Stratford, Ontario, Ali and Noah from Spokane,

29:22

Washington, Theo from Tarrytown, New York, Kerrigan

29:25

and Devon from Boston, Maryland, Alex from

29:27

California, Olivia and Grace from Melbourne, Australia,

29:29

Grace from Brooklyn, New York, Saunty from

29:32

Bellevue, Washington, Lino from Doha,

29:34

Terrell from Sofia, Bulgaria, Margo from

29:36

Oklahoma City, Isabella from the UK,

29:38

Gaines and Pierce from Calcium, New

29:40

York, Sam from Benbrook, Texas, Susanna

29:42

from Boulder, Colorado, Elliott from Middletown,

29:44

Connecticut, Eamon from San Antonio, Texas,

29:46

West from Eureka, Missouri, Sophia from

29:48

Rossville, Georgia, Zoe from Speedway, Indiana,

29:50

Wimberley from Switzerland, Griffin from Austin,

29:53

Texas, Mia and Bexley from Westerville,

29:55

Ohio, Fena from Calgary, Alberta, Leish

29:57

from Liverpool, England, Ethan and Adelina

29:59

from Zionsville, Deanna, Hunt, George and

30:01

Kate from Dover, Massachusetts, Eliza and

30:03

Jasper from Oakland, California, Charlie and

30:05

Olivia from Traverse City, Michigan, Emily

30:07

from Muncie, Indiana, Marjorie from Vancouver,

30:09

Maya from Brisbane, Australia, Lucas from

30:12

Franklin, Massachusetts, Zaya from Mayaguez, Puerto

30:14

Rico, Finnegan from Ontario, Olivia and

30:16

Isabella from Taichung, Taiwan, Novo

30:18

from Kent to Italy, Logan and Delany from

30:20

Derry, New Hampshire, Michaela from Chicago, Hannah

30:22

from College Station, Texas, Isabel and

30:25

Gianella from Encino, California, Oliver from

30:27

Stevenage, England, Bradley and Cadence from

30:29

Argyle, Texas, Annabelle from Winelakes, Minnesota,

30:32

Webb from Malibu, California, Kaye from

30:34

Suhomish, Washington, Maxine, Vivian and Stella

30:36

from Cleveland, Calvin from Calgary, Joshua

30:38

from Dayton, Ohio, Gracelyn from Omaha,

30:41

Ravi from California, Casper from Singapore,

30:43

Nisia from Shiderabad, India, Elizabeth from

30:45

Dabesfari, New York, Bony from New

30:47

Oregon, Jenna from Ferrisville, Virginia, Miles

30:49

from Melbourne, and Jennifer from Denver.

30:57

We'll be back next week with more answers to your questions. Thanks

31:00

for listening.