Why do we have wisdom teeth if they cause so many issues?
Centuries ago, humans never had any issues with their wisdom teeth, so why is it that we have so many issues now with our wisdom teeth?
Every time we hear the words wisdom teeth, we instantly associate that term with pain or discomfort and fear. If we have a look at the fossils of Aboriginal skulls, all of them have perfectly developed wisdom teeth that they actually used to chew their food.
So why is it in the 20th and 21st Century that people have so many wisdom teeth issues. Well, with the modern diet, we don’t use our teeth like we used to and our jaws and teeth don’t develop like they used to.
As a result, typically, we don’t have enough room in our jaws for our wisdom teeth to come through. And so they either never come through, or partially come through.
When wisdom teeth partially come through, the gums don’t form correctly and it creates spaces in our mouth where food gets stuck.
And wherever food gets stuck in our mouth, the bacteria have a bit of a party. And that’s where the issues start. If the issues are repeated and severe, then we usually recommend people to have their wisdom teeth removed.
If possible, we like to avoid wisdom teeth having to be removed at all. But sometimes, wisdom teeth are just affecting our quality of life too much where we need to do something about it.
Hope this helps.
Dr Dan
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