|Photo by Steven de Polo|
Noun. Mid-17th century.
[from DE- + DENTITION.]
PHYSIOLOGY. The shedding of the (deciduous) teeth.
I learnt two things from this entry in the OED:
1) When a child's teeth fall out naturally (as opposed to, say, your older brother pushing you over and smashing them out on a step, as I did), it's called dedentition.
2) The teeth that fall out are called deciduous teeth, just like the trees (although if your teeth are evergreen, you should really see a dental hygienist).
However, I still don't know why I have a recurring dream of my teeth falling out. Oh wise and venerable OED, will your tomes give me the answer in a future entry? I can only hope that the tooth is out there ...
Do please enamel us with your finest comments below.