Re: Wisdom Teeth in Fossil Record

["Steve Brusatte" <dinoland@lycos.com>]

On Thu, 19 Oct 2000 17:05:38  
 dbensen wrote:
>  I haven't grown my wisdom teeth yet, so I don't know---do they just hurt or
>do they actively impare chewing?
>How did people deal with wisdom teeth before we started pulling them out?

Well, dentists *say* that wisdom teeth may lead to gum damage, hollow out the 
jaw, cause nerve damage, and even lead to cancer.  But, according to doctors 
everything leads to cancer.  

Wisdom teeth can impare chewing somewhat if they come in crooked, I suppose.  
Many of the problems caused by wisdom teeth are caused because the tooth 
doesn't emerge from the jaw at all, but instead remains in the bone.  Other 
times it comes in crooked, or only partially erupts, which can cause pain and 
push other teeth out of line, I suppose.  

Then, of course, the wisdom teeth can also come in straight, too, and can aid 
in chewing!

Steve

----
Steve Brusatte
Dino Land Paleontology
http://www.geocities.com/stegob
----


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