Wisdom teeth- What`s the point?

[237SJ]

What is the point of wisdom teeth? I`m sure there`s some primeval reason for teeth in the back of the mouth but why does nature decide that those teeth have to make their appearance known when the host is nearing their late teens/early twenties?

[LazyGun]

Modern man enjoys a tremendous advantage over our primitive forebears. We have knives and forks to cut and slice our food; We generally eat softer, more easily digestible foods; we eat cooked and processed foods.

Wisdom teeth could be considered a third set of molars, for back when we needed to do an awful lot more chewing. Molars wore down with the use, so a third set of molars could be considered pretty useful.Add to that the evolutionary development of brain and jaws, and walking upright and all that stuff, and they have become redundant.

Nowadays, they could be considered an evolutionary cul de sac, a vestigial organ.

[jno]

to eat with. I'm not sure they're redundant: mine have been removed because they broke or wore down (they never came very far out), which indicates that I was chewing with them even if I wasn't aware of it.

[erin-x]

I don't have mine yet and I don't think I will get them. My mum or dad didn't get their wisdom teeth. Maybe we're just higher up the evolutionary ladder ;) lol!

[ummmm]

I'm 39 and mine have only just stopped growing, all three of them.

[LazyGun]

I missed a word - "Add to that the evolutionary development of brain and jaws, and walking upright and all that stuff, and they have become redundant."

Should have read
"Add to that the evolutionary development of brain and jaws, and walking upright and all that stuff, and they have become largely redundant." :)

I rather hazily seem to remember that around 35% of the population do not have wisdom teeth. Opinion is divided as to what this represents from an evolutionary perspective. One school of thought suggests that this indicates that the gene is gradually being phased out.

[theprof]

Yes, as Lazygun states there is some evidence that the gene is indeed being phased out. Wisdom teeth are no longer required by modern man and statistical evidence does show that emergence has been reduced dramatically during the last three decades.

The rate of change is surprisingly high during these decades and I anticipate dramatic changes within the next couple of generations. In involuntary terms, this is very remarkable.

[theprof]

"involuntary" should read "evolutionary". The spell-checker has been at it again!

[ludwig]

// I rather hazily seem to remember that around 35% of the population do not have wisdom teeth. Opinion is divided as to what this represents from an evolutionary perspective. One school of thought suggests that this indicates that the gene is gradually being phased out. //

Natural selection. People with wisdoms either die from septicemia or are in too much agony to have sex as often as the others.

[craft1948]

I had to have 1 removed because it was apparently growing sideways.......not so wise then.

[mike11111]

Too many lollipops, Craft.

I like Ludwig's theory about being in too much agony to have sex!

[craft1948]

lol Mike, it's never been that bad..............

[237SJ]

Thanks for the interesting answers. I`m still wondering why they don`t come through when someone grows their adult teeth though. Could it be that (as Lazygun says) they are effectively a third set of molars and they were intended to come through when the other molars were wearing down? After all, the age that they come through in modern man would have been halfway through primitve man`s life.

[woofgang]

those worn down teeth might also have fallen out, thus allowing room for the wisdoms to erupt. modern man (and woman) don't loose teeth so easily hence the crowded mouth that many of us suffer from, including me.

[tonyav]

Dunno what the point of them are, had to have all four of mine out when I was about 25 years old. Dentist said they were growing impacted what ever that means. Had to have them out in hospital.

[237SJ]

That`s an intersting point. They could well be designed to come up when teeth fall out. I`ve just been to the dentist and she said I`m having trouble cleaning one of my wisdom teeth. Apparently I have a small mouth and the tooth is partially erupted. The wisdom tooth on the other side is through because I had a tooth removed so space was made for it to come through completely.

[woofgang]

impaction means that they are trying to grow (erupt) through the gum but there is not sufficient room.

[naomi24]

I've never had wisdom teeth. I'm clearly highly evolved. ;o)

[wildwood]

They have clearly become redundant in evolutionary terms. Perhaps our very distant ancestors were polyphyodonts due to the harsh vegetation around then..

[theprof]

237SJ, they are indeed a third set of molars. There's no "effectively" about it. Nowadays evolutionary biologists agree that their full emergence was timed to coincide with the wearing down of the first and second set of molars and yes, given the relatively short lifespan of primitive man, they enabled man to chew harder food from relatively early years to death. Survival depended on the ability to masticate these hard foods.

Nowadays, Wisdom Teeth are unnecessary thanks to modern food processing. I have lived and worked frequently in the USA for over 30 years and I can assure you that around 90% of Americans do not have Wisdom Teeth. This is not attributable to evolution but rather that dentists over there encourage the removal of wisdom teeth when a child approaches their teens on the basis that it can minimise future problems in the jaw. This decision appears to be right as American adults suffer far fewer problems in this area than UK adults.