She co-wrote the song with Oak Felder, Alex Niceforo, Keith "Ten4" Sorrells, Laura Veltz, and Lil Aaron, while the former three handled its production.

It features Lovato confronting an ominous figure representing addiction and the media, as well as scenes of the singer performing with an electric guitar shooting out sparks.

[2] Lovato started teasing what would be her eighth studio album, and told Rolling Stone's Tomás Mier that it would have some "heaviness" in its sound.

[9] Days later, the song's release date and cover artwork were revealed; the image features Lovato with dark makeup and an all-black outfit with spikes and chains.

[14] The track was produced by Oak Felder, co-produced by Alex Niceforo and Keith Sorrells, and written by Lovato and the three alongside Laura Veltz and Lil Aaron.

[19][20] Described by Stereogum's Tom Breihan as "bright, fired-up arena-level",[17] the song has a more potent sound than Lovato's previous releases.

[21] The energy of the guitar tones is reminiscent of the rock musicians Pat Benatar and Joan Jett, according to Loudwire's Joe DiVita.

[24] The lyrics of "Skin of My Teeth" focus on Lovato's struggles with substance abuse,[25] with citation of drug rehabilitation and the desire to be free from the disease she was enduring.

[17][19] In a review of Holy Fvck, Tom Williams of The Line of Best Fit believed that "Skin of My Teeth" showcases the album's strengths, as it is "unrelentingly intense and unmistakably autobiographical".

[31] For Billboard, Stephen Daw named "Skin of My Teeth" the "true introduction" to Holy Fvck over the opening track "Freak", and placed it at number nine in a ranking of the album's songs.

[33] For Business Insider, Callie Ahlgrim called "Skin of My Teeth" one of the biggest snubs of the 65th Annual Grammy Awards nominations.

[24] Vulture's Wolfgang Ruth said that the image of the figure haunting Lovato while sitting in a bathtub represented addictions,[35] while iHeartRadio's Rebekah Gonzalez said that it could be a personification of the media.