your healthcare connection
The Wisdom of Wisdom Teeth
We all know the purpose of wisdom teeth. We have them so they can be pulled and put money in our dentist’s pockets. How else are the poor dentists to earn a living?
Yes, for a long time we have now known that wisdom teeth are ‘vestigal’ organs like our appendix. Used when we were cave people, but no longer needed. Our jaws aren’t big enough, in most cases, to even grow them.
A current news story In Nature, Sept 27 lent some light to the issue of wisdom teeth. Seems in the old days we needed more power to chew our food, but as we have evolved, so have the foods we eat. This power is no longer needed.
Two mechanisms seem to be at work when we’re a babe in our mother’s womb. One is an activation gene which causes wisdom teeth to be the largest of the molars, and sometimes, if over-active, may even grow a fourth molar (currently, with wisdom teeth, we have three). The second is an inhibition gene, which causes molars to be successively smaller as they grow further back in the jaw. Some people, as a result, don’t have any wisdom teeth at all.
Technically, therefore, the wisdom teeth are not vestigial organs, but evolving before our eyes, thanks to the inhibitory gene, into a vestigial organ.
The important thing about wisdom teeth is to have a dentist evaluate if you have sufficient room in your mouth for wisdom teeth, or if they need to be removed. “Wisdom teeth are easier to remove when the patient is younger, since their roots are not completely formed, the surrounding bone is softer, and there is less chance of damaging nearby nerves or other structures. Removal of wisdom teeth at a later age becomes more complicated as the roots have fully developed (may involve the nerve), and the jawbone is denser” (AAOMS).
Additionally, wisdom teeth which are impacted (eruption of the tooth prevented due to crowding) cause serious problems, including pain and infection. Don’t wait for this to happen.
Sources
Nature, September 27, 2007
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v449/n7161/abs/nature06153.html
Live Science, October 2, 2007
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20071001/sc_livescience/newwisdomonwisdomteeth
American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS)
http://www.aaoms.org/wisdom_teeth.php
Yes, for a long time we have now known that wisdom teeth are ‘vestigal’ organs like our appendix. Used when we were cave people, but no longer needed. Our jaws aren’t big enough, in most cases, to even grow them.
A current news story In Nature, Sept 27 lent some light to the issue of wisdom teeth. Seems in the old days we needed more power to chew our food, but as we have evolved, so have the foods we eat. This power is no longer needed.
Two mechanisms seem to be at work when we’re a babe in our mother’s womb. One is an activation gene which causes wisdom teeth to be the largest of the molars, and sometimes, if over-active, may even grow a fourth molar (currently, with wisdom teeth, we have three). The second is an inhibition gene, which causes molars to be successively smaller as they grow further back in the jaw. Some people, as a result, don’t have any wisdom teeth at all.
Technically, therefore, the wisdom teeth are not vestigial organs, but evolving before our eyes, thanks to the inhibitory gene, into a vestigial organ.
The important thing about wisdom teeth is to have a dentist evaluate if you have sufficient room in your mouth for wisdom teeth, or if they need to be removed. “Wisdom teeth are easier to remove when the patient is younger, since their roots are not completely formed, the surrounding bone is softer, and there is less chance of damaging nearby nerves or other structures. Removal of wisdom teeth at a later age becomes more complicated as the roots have fully developed (may involve the nerve), and the jawbone is denser” (AAOMS).
Additionally, wisdom teeth which are impacted (eruption of the tooth prevented due to crowding) cause serious problems, including pain and infection. Don’t wait for this to happen.
Sources
Nature, September 27, 2007
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v449/n7161/abs/nature06153.html
Live Science, October 2, 2007
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20071001/sc_livescience/newwisdomonwisdomteeth
American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS)
http://www.aaoms.org/wisdom_teeth.php
Tags: children's health, general health resources, health news, men's health, women's health
Add a Comment
About
© 2009 Created by Eric Shannon on Ning. Create Your Own Social Network
You need to be a member of Medicine.org to add comments!
Join this social network