The human mouth hosts a variety of different types of teeth, with the wisdom teeth being one of them. The sharper teeth towards the front of the mouth bite and shred the food while the flat molars towards the back grind it into an easily digestible pulp. While you may think wisdom teeth are a completely useless nuisance, the truth is that they once served a valuable purpose in primitive times. Here’s what people have wisdom teeth, including how they were once quite useful.
In What Order Do Teeth Emerge?
While children are born without teeth, their first set begins to come in around the age of one year. These primary teeth are small enough to fit in a child’s mouth, and they start falling out around age five to make room for the adult teeth. Children have usually lost all of their baby teeth by age ten or eleven, and a second set of molars comes in around age twelve. The wisdom teeth begin to emerge in the late teens or early twenties, and they often cause problems that require them to be extracted.
What Purpose Did Wisdom Teeth Serve?
People today enjoy food that is cooked or processed to be easy to chew and swallow, but this was not the case before the dawn of civilization. Back then, people ate a tough diet of raw nuts, meat, roots, fruit, and vegetables, and they needed some extra grinding power in their mouths to aid in the digestive process. However, as technology developed and eating became easier, people’s jaws became smaller over successive generations.
Why Would Wisdom Teeth Need to Be Extracted?
The emergence of the wisdom teeth ushers in a variety of oral health problems for many people. Wisdom teeth that do not come in properly can be harder to clean and easier to injure, making them vulnerable to infections that can spread to the other teeth. If they fail to emerge from the gums entirely, they become impacted and can provide shelter for colonies of harmful bacteria. In some cases, the wisdom teeth can crowd the other teeth, causing constant pain and possibly undoing the hard work of orthodontic treatments from previous years.
If your wisdom teeth are causing you trouble, an oral surgeon can help. If your dentist examines your mouth and recommends that your third molars be extracted, they will provide you with a referral to a qualified provider.
About the Practice
Texas Wisdom Teeth provides patients with the best oral surgical services in Dallas, TX. With Dr. Tamir Anver at the helm, the staff ensures that each patient receives courteous, compassionate, and effective care. Areas of expertise include wisdom tooth extractions as well as other oral surgical treatments. For more information on the biology behind wisdom teeth, contact the office online or dial (972) 960-1111.