Mysteries of Wisdom Teeth

[eightpak]

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I was wondering if there is a book about wisdom teeth and its mysteries sort of thing. Could be some ancient theories... etc.

Might sound a bit nuts to most of you but I am growing my wisdom teeth right now and a lot of crazy stuff has been happening to me intelligence wise.

I have always been the smartest person in the classroom but have had my weaknesses such as laziness. Last night, I felt like this horrible pain just clicked something in my brain. I feel like I am a different person today, ready to take on the world.

What is the real reason they call this your wisdom teeth? It cant just be the fact that you grow them at a later age...

I know most of you are thinking I am nuts. I swear I am being serious, this is no dream or fantasy. There has to be somebody out there with a little historical knowledge about wisdom teeth.

 

[youknowthedrill]

Welcome to the world of enlightenment. You will soon discover the meaning of life...

 

[Smilemaker12]

From what a dentist told me, when we were human apes we used them for grinding. The molars we have wear down, so we need wisdom teeth to come in at a later age. However, some ppl dont have wisdom teeth nowadays...most likely, caz there use has diminished.

Maybe you were lazy cause you need vitamins lol

or maybe it is mystical 🙂

 

[doc toothache]

It is either the wisdom teeth or someone spiked your drink with some serious stuff.

 

[eringer]

From what a dentist told me, when we were human apes we used them for grinding. The molars we have wear down, so we need wisdom teeth to come in at a later age. However, some ppl dont have wisdom teeth nowadays...most likely, caz there use has diminished.

Maybe you were lazy cause you need vitamins lol

or maybe it is mystical 🙂

Because we don't need them anymore, they have basically become another vestigial anatomical feature. Evolution says that there may have been 6 or even 8 in each person at one point in time. Now that they are no longer needed, they aren't selected for by natural selection, so people have less and less.

 

[Maygyver]

But can you really say it is natural selection? Are people without wisdom teeth now really more fit than those with them?

 

[cbizzle7994]

But can you really say it is natural selection? Are people without wisdom teeth now really more fit than those with them?

No, but you can say that the people without them are now no less fit than those with them. In the past, if you didn't have wisdom teeth you were at a disadvantage and there was less of chance for you to survive and pass on your genes (encoding no wisdom teeth). Now, if you have no wisdom teeth, you are just as likely to survive and pass on your genes. Thus more people today will not have wisdom teeth than at a time when they gave us a distinct advantage.

 

[Maygyver]

No, but you can say that the people without them are now no less fit than those with them. In the past, if you didn't have wisdom teeth you were at a disadvantage and there was less of chance for you to survive and pass on your genes (encoding no wisdom teeth). Now, if you have no wisdom teeth, you are just as likely to survive and pass on your genes. Thus more people today will not have wisdom teeth than at a time when they gave us a distinct advantage.

I'm just not sure if you can really say that currently humans are losing wisdom teeth due to natural selection though. If there is no pressure currently to favor individuals without wisdom teeth, then they are not being favored to pass on their genes. Yes in the past you could say natural selection was acting to increase the frequency of wisdom teeth (those with wisdom teeth would better be able to consume more food, etc), but I'm not sure if you could really say that the role has reversed. It's just something to think about. I was actually talking about this with some people the other day. I would think it would be more likely due to genetic drift.

 

[Psychohexane13]

I was wondering if there is a book about wisdom teeth and its mysteries sort of thing. Could be some ancient theories... etc.

Might sound a bit nuts to most of you but I am growing my wisdom teeth right now and a lot of crazy stuff has been happening to me intelligence wise.

I have always been the smartest person in the classroom but have had my weaknesses such as laziness. Last night, I felt like this horrible pain just clicked something in my brain. I feel like I am a different person today, ready to take on the world.

What is the real reason they call this your wisdom teeth? It cant just be the fact that you grow them at a later age...

I know most of you are thinking I am nuts. I swear I am being serious, this is no dream or fantasy. There has to be somebody out there with a little historical knowledge about wisdom teeth.

I want what this dude is having. 🙄

 

[Maygyver]

I want what this dude is having. 🙄

"It's called Charlie Sheen!"

 

[armorshell]

I'm just not sure if you can really say that currently humans are losing wisdom teeth due to natural selection though. If there is no pressure currently to favor individuals without wisdom teeth, then they are not being favored to pass on their genes. Yes in the past you could say natural selection was acting to increase the frequency of wisdom teeth (those with wisdom teeth would better be able to consume more food, etc), but I'm not sure if you could really say that the role has reversed. It's just something to think about. I was actually talking about this with some people the other day. I would think it would be more likely due to genetic drift.

Selective pressure against people with wisdom teeth still likely exists. If you have wisdom teeth (or even a full set of 4, vs. say, 2-3), you are likely to be exposed to surgical trauma to have them removed. However small the risks are (and they are small), removal of wisdom teeth and anesthesia are associated with mobidity and mortality, loss of function, etc, etc...

Additionally, for the significant percentage of people who do not have wisdom teeth removed, they're exposed to increased surgical trauma and potential for neoplasia/cystogenesis.

There's still plenty of selective pressure against those who have wisdom teeth, and thus my future as an oral surgeon depends on me lowering that complication rate and getting out as many wizzies as possible to slow the inexorable progress of evolution.

 

[psychoboylol123]

Selective pressure against people with wisdom teeth still likely exists. If you have wisdom teeth (or even a full set of 4, vs. say, 2-3), you are likely to be exposed to surgical trauma to have them removed. However small the risks are (and they are small), removal of wisdom teeth and anesthesia are associated with mobidity and mortality, loss of function, etc, etc...

Additionally, for the significant percentage of people who do not have wisdom teeth removed, they're exposed to increased surgical trauma and potential for neoplasia/cystogenesis.

There's still plenty of selective pressure against those who have wisdom teeth, and thus my future as an oral surgeon depends on me lowering that complication rate and getting out as many wizzies as possible to slow the inexorable progress of evolution.

+1 👍

 

[Maygyver]

Selective pressure against people with wisdom teeth still likely exists. If you have wisdom teeth (or even a full set of 4, vs. say, 2-3), you are likely to be exposed to surgical trauma to have them removed. However small the risks are (and they are small), removal of wisdom teeth and anesthesia are associated with mobidity and mortality, loss of function, etc, etc...

Additionally, for the significant percentage of people who do not have wisdom teeth removed, they're exposed to increased surgical trauma and potential for neoplasia/cystogenesis.

There's still plenty of selective pressure against those who have wisdom teeth, and thus my future as an oral surgeon depends on me lowering that complication rate and getting out as many wizzies as possible to slow the inexorable progress of evolution.

Sounds good to me. And nice poster. I know I saw that as someone's avatar once hah.

 

[EdwardKim]

I'm just not sure if you can really say that currently humans are losing wisdom teeth due to natural selection though. If there is no pressure currently to favor individuals without wisdom teeth, then they are not being favored to pass on their genes. Yes in the past you could say natural selection was acting to increase the frequency of wisdom teeth (those with wisdom teeth would better be able to consume more food, etc), but I'm not sure if you could really say that the role has reversed. It's just something to think about. I was actually talking about this with some people the other day. I would think it would be more likely due to genetic drift.

People have been losing the wisdom teeth function through natural selection. Like LONG time ago when medical services weren't very available so people with wisdom teeth had higher chance to get infection and have lower fitness than people without wisdom teeth.

Maybe that's why some people now don't have wisdom teeth.

But as of now, I don't think natural selection is working on wisdom teeth significantly because whether or not they have wisdom teeth, people seek doctors and their presence don't really lower anyone's fitness...

 

[americanpierg]

Because we don't need them anymore, they have basically become another vestigial anatomical feature. Evolution says that there may have been 6 or even 8 in each person at one point in time. Now that they are no longer needed, they aren't selected for by natural selection, so people have less and less.

Or every tooth pulled = more $$$ for the dentist...

But yea.

 

[RSimon]

I had mine pulled and my IQ dropped 20 points... 🙁

 

[WhichRoom]

No, but you can say that the people without them are now no less fit than those with them. In the past, if you didn't have wisdom teeth you were at a disadvantage and there was less of chance for you to survive and pass on your genes (encoding no wisdom teeth). Now, if you have no wisdom teeth, you are just as likely to survive and pass on your genes. Thus more people today will not have wisdom teeth than at a time when they gave us a distinct advantage.

Yeah buddy, we get what you're saying. I'm sure maygyver is right on board as well kid. What we are saying is the trait seems to be more selectively neutral, which crushes you're theory. Being too quick to profess your wisdom often leaves you looking like the fool, tool.

 

[armorshell]

Yeah buddy, we get what you're saying. I'm sure maygyver is right on board as well kid. What we are saying is the trait seems to be more selectively neutral, which crushes you're theory. Being too quick to profess your wisdom often leaves you looking like the fool, tool.

Read my post above for a ready refutation, 'buddy'.

 

[shedara2008]

hey it can not be use or disuse or natural selection either. neither are wisdom teeth a vestigial structure because there are some people whose wisdom teeth are part of their bite, then for those ppl their wisdom teeth are functional.

 

[WhichRoom]

I am 'lucky' enough to have all 4 wisdom teeth, and able to keep all four. What I have noticed is unsurpassed mastication skills. I am able to consume my nutritional needs quickly and more effectively than my peers. This allows me more time to explore the land, and spread the seed. I would change my stance to say they are certainly selected for

 

[preOMFS]

I don't know if you can call it selective pressure though because wouldn't it have to effect the number of offspring you can produce to make it show up evolutionarily? Surgical trauma or other complications (numbness) probably aren't gonna effect your chances of hooking up with someone in the long run (granted, one could argue that if the surgeon really screws up he/she could severely deform you facial features making you less attractive). And, the people who have comorbidities who are at high risks during GA probably will not be put under just to get their wizzies out (i.e. the 55yo with CHF and 60 pack years under his belt whos wisdom teeth are "just now starting to come in").

However if you were to keep your wisdom teeth IN, then you may see a selection because of increased abcesses secondary to percoronitis, benign but locally aggressive cysts and tumors, and your occasional malignant tumor. Plus, to see any selective pressures manifest themselves you would need to wait hundreds of thousands of years for evolution to take its course (too bad nobody's started up that cohort, huh?).

Also, I think getting your wisdom teeth extracted is mainly an American thing, especially for preventative measures. I know that dentists in the UK frequently due RCTs and crowns on 3rds and the English like holding on to their wisdom teeth.

Very interesting indeed though.

 

[BombayBDS]

Also, I think getting your wisdom teeth extracted is mainly an American thing, especially for preventative measures. I know that dentists in the UK frequently due RCTs and crowns on 3rds and the English like holding on to their wisdom teeth.

Very interesting indeed though.[/QUOTE]

you are correct. extracting wisdom teeth for preventive measures is not common in most countries.

 

[armorshell]

I don't know if you can call it selective pressure though because wouldn't it have to effect the number of offspring you can produce to make it show up evolutionarily? Surgical trauma or other complications (numbness) probably aren't gonna effect your chances of hooking up with someone in the long run (granted, one could argue that if the surgeon really screws up he/she could severely deform you facial features making you less attractive). And, the people who have comorbidities who are at high risks during GA probably will not be put under just to get their wizzies out (i.e. the 55yo with CHF and 60 pack years under his belt whos wisdom teeth are "just now starting to come in").

"Fitness" is quite a bit more complicated than number of offspring. Mate selection, mate quality, etc... all come into play. Yes, serious complications are uncommon, but small selective pressure multiplied by a population of millions multiplied by a few dozen generations can start to become significant. My point is, selective pressure to evolve away from wisdom teeth is likely diminished by prophylactic extraction, not erased.

 

[1992Corolla]

I am 'lucky' enough to have all 4 wisdom teeth, and able to keep all four. What I have noticed is unsurpassed mastication skills. I am able to consume my nutritional needs quickly and more effectively than my peers. This allows me more time to explore the land, and spread the seed. I would change my stance to say they are certainly selected for

One argument against this would be that you, by retaining your teeth, will develop periodontal disease which will then lead to halitosis, making your seed undesirable.
As a proponent of the 3rd molar removal by handpiece society, I would advise to have these teeth prophylactically removed for the benefit of passing on your perfect 3rd molar occlusion to your offspring in the event that selective pressures (infection, surgical morbidity, trauma) lowers the population of impacted 3rds.