A bicuspid is a tooth with two pointed tips, or cusps, on its biting surface. If you run your tongue along your teeth, you'll feel that the teeth toward the back of your mouth have these bumpy points that help you chew food.

You have eight bicuspids total: four on top and four on the bottom, two on each side of your mouth. They sit between your sharp, pointy canine teeth (the ones that look a bit like fangs) and your large, flat molars in the very back. Dentists also call bicuspids premolars because they come just before the molars.

Bicuspids are perfectly designed for their job. Their two cusps grip and tear food, then grind it between your upper and lower teeth. When you bite into an apple or chew a piece of steak, your bicuspids do much of the work, breaking food into smaller pieces before you swallow. They're tougher than your front teeth but more precise than your big molars, making them essential tools in your mouth's toolkit.