Great White Sharks Teeth

Looking here at the great white shark teeth you can see how easy it would be for them to tear and slice a carcass apart, as they are double-sided serrated edged. These teeth are very sharp to the touch. The teeth are rather hard and appeared to be brittle.

There is up to three rows of teeth and the smaller back row is curved downward into the jaw's gum lining. These are constantly growing to be rotated into position when required.

When a Great White breaks a tooth another is ready to take its place as it takes only 24 hours for the replacement tooth to be formed. The Great Whites are covered in battle scars from other sharks, as it is a fact that they bite each other to show dominance. Also, the males bite onto the females during mating rituals.

Here you can easily see the seratted edges of the great white shark teeth. Photo by Paul Morris during the making of Ultimate Shark with National Geographic.

The Great Whites teeth and jaws fetch a high price and that has added to the threat of extinction of these sharks. Hunting of Great whites is now an offence in New Zealand as they are now a protected species.

Tooth Replacement Rate

Tooth Replacement Rate of Carcharodon carcharias (Linneaus, 1758)

ABSTRACT: Analysis of 31 jaws of Carcharodon carcharias, from specimens ranging in total length from 143.5 to 460.9 cm, finds a range in tooth replacement rate of the Second Lateral tooth family of (Upper/Lower) 106.24/113.59 days for young individuals to 225.90/242.18 days for old individuals using the Strasburg Plot Method.

The Second Lateral tooth family of the upper and lower jaws gives the best estimates of tooth replacement rate. Upper and lower jaws demonstrate fluctuating asymmetry within the number of tooth positions. The range in dental formulae of the upper/lower jaw for this sample is: 11 to 15 - 0 - 12 to 14 / 11 to 16 - 0 - 11 to 15. One male (NOAA-NMFS Tag #610, TL 149.5 cm) taken off New Jersey in the Northwest Atlantic, has a very minute parasymphysial tooth in the upper right jaw.

This is the first report of a parasymphysial tooth present in a White Shark and is considered here as an atavistic character. Using the tooth replacement rate of 106.24 days/tooth, and previous reports of near term White Shark embryos with 3 to 4 full tooth sets present in their alimentary canals, an estimate of when tooth replacement begins prior to parturition and therefore a minimum estimate of gestation period for the White Shark can be calculated as 425 days.

Information provided by John C Bruner

Shark Teeth Pictures 

When the great white Shark goes in to attack the upper jaw will burst forwards exposing all the gums. You can see here the 3 rows of teeth that the Great White Shark has.

The New Zealand Government supports the protection of the Great White shark yet it does little to educate the people of our country about the Great White shark.

As well as this it seems hell bent on still supporting shark fining. This seems to be a huge contradiction and it is obvious we need to apply more pressure to the New Zealand Government to aid in stopping this outrageous behaviour. Take action ( Be Heard, Be Loud, Stop the slaughter of our sharks)
Researched by Paul Morris

This Cheeky Boy was putting his head into our cage. When you are in a shark cage on a Shark Diving Rodney Fox Expedition you are completely safe as they are very well designed so that the shark cannot get right inside. This shark only had 300 odd mm inside. Wow What a sight!!