Tooth Emoji

The tooth emoji 🦷 shows a single white molar and means teeth, dentists, and dental health. People use it for tooth pain, cavities, braces, whitening, check-ups, and anything involving the mouth. It can also mean biting or a toothy grin in casual chat. It is a literal, neutral symbol with a few playful uses.

What Does the Tooth Emoji Mean?

The tooth emoji represents a human tooth, and in practice it stands for anything connected to teeth, dentistry, or oral health.

The artwork on most platforms is a single white tooth with two roots, drawn from a molar-like shape. It carries no emotion on its own, which makes it a clean visual shorthand: when you see it, the message is almost always about teeth, a dental visit, or something happening in the mouth.

Because it is a plain object emoji rather than a face, the tone comes from the words around it. Dentist at 9am 🦷😬 reads as nervous. Just got my braces off 🦷✨ reads as celebratory. The same symbol works for both.

Technical details

• Unicode name: TOOTH
• Codepoint: U+1F9B7
• Unicode version: 11.0 (Emoji 11.0)
• Category: People & Body
• Shortcode: :tooth:
• Skin tone support: none, because the emoji shows a tooth rather than a person or body part with skin

How Do You Use the Tooth Emoji?

You use the tooth emoji whenever a message is about teeth, dental care, or a dentist appointment, and it works best placed right next to the word it illustrates.

Most everyday uses fall into a few clear groups, and the meaning stays literal in nearly all of them.

Dental appointments and check-ups

People drop the tooth into reminders and plans, often with a calendar or clock. It saves words and instantly signals what the appointment is for.

• Cleaning at 3pm, see you after 🦷
• Reminder: Maya has the dentist tomorrow 🦷📅

Tooth pain and dental problems

Pair the tooth with a wince or crying face to describe a toothache, a cavity, a chipped tooth, or a sensitive tooth after something cold. The tooth supplies the topic and the second emoji supplies the feeling.

Braces, whitening, and smiles

Orthodontic updates and whitening results are natural fits. Many people post a tooth with a sparkle after getting braces removed or finishing a whitening treatment.

What Does the Tooth Emoji Mean in Texting and on Social Media?

In texting and social posts, the tooth emoji usually signals a dental topic, but it also appears as a playful stand-in for biting, grinning, or showing off a smile.

On social media, dentists, hygienists, and dental offices use it as a brand marker in bios and captions. It acts like a small profession badge, similar to how other professions use a single object emoji, and it helps followers recognize the account at a glance.

Outside of dentistry, you will see it in lighthearted captions about snacking, sweets, or sugar cravings, where the tooth hints at the consequences. Third dessert tonight and my teeth are filing a complaint 🦷 is a typical example of the joking tone.

Some people also use it for a confident, toothy smile in selfie captions, especially after a whitening or cosmetic treatment. That use is informal and depends on context, so a neighboring word like smile or grin helps it land.

How Does the Tooth Emoji Look on Different Platforms?

The tooth emoji looks like a single white tooth on every major platform, with small differences in shading, outline, and root detail.

The emoji is supported on iOS 12.1 and later, macOS 10.14.1 and later, Android 9.0 and later, Windows 10 version 1809 and later, Samsung One UI 1.0 and later, WhatsApp 2.19 and later, and Twitter through Twemoji 11.1 and later. On older software that predates these versions, you may see an empty box or a question mark instead of the tooth.

• Apple: a glossy, softly shaded tooth with a gentle highlight.
• Google: a flatter, simpler tooth with minimal shading.
• Microsoft: a clean, rounded tooth with a distinct outline.
• Samsung and WhatsApp: a polished tooth in each vendor's own style.
• Twitter (Twemoji): a flat, colorful tooth consistent with the rest of the set.

The meaning does not change between platforms, so a message sent from one device will read the same on another even if the artwork differs slightly.

Which Emojis Pair Well With the Tooth Emoji?

The tooth emoji pairs best with emojis that add emotion, time, or a specific dental action, since the tooth alone only names the topic.

• 🦷😬 for dental anxiety or an awkward grimace before a procedure.
• 🦷✨ for whitening results, a fresh cleaning, or a new smile.
• 🦷😭 for a toothache or a painful extraction.
• 🦷🪥 for brushing, hygiene routines, and oral care tips.
• 🦷🍬 for jokes about sugar and cavities.

If you are building a wider body-themed message, the tooth sits comfortably next to other anatomy emojis. The ear emoji works for hearing and listening topics, while the foot emoji and leg emoji cover other parts of the body in health or fitness posts.

For strength and recovery themes, such as a post about healing after a procedure, the flexed biceps emoji is a common companion. Accessibility or prosthetics conversations sometimes use the mechanical arm and mechanical leg emojis, but those are separate topics from dental care.

When Should You Avoid the Tooth Emoji?

Avoid the tooth emoji when the context is serious or formal enough that a cartoon symbol could undermine the message, or when its meaning might be unclear.

In clinical or professional dental communication, such as treatment plans, billing, or sensitive health information, plain text is more appropriate. A patient describing a serious infection or trauma may also prefer words, since a small icon can feel too casual for something painful or worrying.

It can also confuse readers when used alone and without context. A lone 🦷 in a reply could be a joke, a reminder, or a pain complaint, so add a few words to make your intent clear.

Finally, be careful in sensitive moments. Jokes about teeth, appearance, or dental work can land badly if someone is dealing with cost stress, self-consciousness, or a difficult procedure.

What Is the Difference Between the Tooth Emoji and Similar Emojis?

The tooth emoji shows an isolated tooth, while face emojis like the grimacing face or the grinning face show expressions that involve teeth but communicate feelings rather than a topic.

That difference matters for clarity. If you want to say you are anxious, a face emoji conveys the emotion directly. If you want to name the subject, such as a dentist visit or a cavity, the tooth does that job better. Combining both gives the clearest message.

You can explore related body and anatomy symbols in the People & Body emoji category, where the tooth sits alongside hands, limbs, and other parts of the body. To see which symbols people are reaching for right now, check the trending emojis page.

How Do You Copy and Paste the Tooth Emoji?

You can copy the tooth emoji 🦷 with one click on this page and paste it into any message, post, or document.

Click the emoji or the copy button, then paste it with Ctrl+V on Windows and Linux or Cmd+V on Mac. On a phone, long-press in a text field and choose Paste. The emoji is a standard Unicode character (U+1F9B7), so it works in most apps that support emoji, provided your device meets the minimum software versions listed above.

If you would rather build a whole message out of emojis, try the Emoji Translator, which turns plain text into emojis you can copy in one go. Whichever way you do it, the tooth is ready to paste as soon as you click it.