Sunday, April 29, 2012

Wisdom Teeth Going Missing?


About 100 million years ago, the human jaw was large enough to easily accommodate 32 teeth. As time goes on, our jaws are shrinking because we are not using them like we used to. Millions of years ago, we did not have utensils for eating, the foods we ate weren’t always as soft as they are now, and there wasn’t dental care. Our jaws also had other uses besides just eating. It was found that some Eskimo women would chew on leather to make it softer. With all of these uses, wisdom teeth were necessary for survival. Now, with modern foods, inventions, and routine dental care, our jaws are shrinking, meaning that there just isn’t enough room for wisdom teeth. While most people end up needing to have their wisdom teeth removed, there are also some people that don't have their wisdom teeth. Currently, about 35% of people are missing some, or all of their wisdom teeth. Many scientist are attributing the teeth not forming to the smaller jaw size, and the teeth being unnecessary anymore. As time goes on, scientists believe that wisdom teeth may just disappear altogether.

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