Wisdom teeth are the third and the last set of molars, which are 'hidden' in the backline of our jaws. They commonly cause various complications, from pain and chewing troubles to infections and teeth impaction. More than half of the population has at least one wisdom tooth, and more than 73% of them experience problems with 'third molars' when they start growing (usually between 17 and 25 years).
In simple words – it is a biological lottery where you can 'win' some reasons to visit your dentist. These fluctuations in the number of teeth occurred due to a complicated and rapid process of the Homo Sapiens evolution.
So, let's explore a brief history of wisdom teeth and determine why they are so problematic.
Why do we even have them?
The human body has various vestigial parts — specific traits our ancestors used for millions of years to survive, such as the appendix, coccyx, and wisdom teeth.
Third molars were highly effective when proto-humans needed to chew tough food such as raw meat, seeds, roots, nuts, etc. This diet required a strong masticatory system along with a large tooth size and a wide tooth surface. At that time, wisdom teeth were an important part of the food-grinding process and crucial for proper nutrition.
However, once the pre-human species became more intelligent, their diet and habits changed so significantly that the masticatory system started to decrease its volume and power rapidly.
New Biological Trends
Our early ancestors — Australopithecus (4.5-2 mill y.a.) — were distinguished among other life creatures by their ability to create and use tools. Research from US scientists suggested that this feature allowed early hominins to cut their food into pieces with primitive knives, which made it easier to chew. According to this hypothesis, the jaw's muscles and tooth size started to decrease from that moment.
The next milestone was the discovery of the controlled fire that allowed early Homos to cook fish and meat, making it much softer. According to recent research from Israeli scientists, it happened about 780,000 years ago. Cooked food significantly affects Homo Erectus' – our direct ancestors – organisms, providing their brains with nutrients necessary for cognitive development and significantly decreasing their jaws' muscles and tooth size.
And finally, about 300 000 years ago, the first Homo Sapiens emerged on the covered greenery African continent. The evolution of the masticatory system continued due to the high cognitive performance of species that allowed them to control cooking fire effectively and create advanced tools for hunting and cutting.
Modern Humans
After more than two hundred thousand years, the so-called 'big leap forward' in human evolution happened. This period started about 40,000 years ago and was characterized by the rapid development of new cognitive capabilities, including complex speech, which made it possible to form a civilization. Necessary anatomical changes of vocal apparatus occurring during this period of evolution also significantly affect jaw muscles because language requires a flexible mouth and jaws.
Last but not least – significant changes in the human ratio have transformed the masticatory system into a very similar form to what we already have. According to scientific theories, there are two main milestones:
- Pottery invention (about 31,000 years ago) allows human to store their food and improve food production processing.
- Transform to agricultural economy (12–14,000 years ago)—significantly changed human nutrition by adding grains and other cultures and excluding the common elements of hunter-gatherers' diet that were eaten by our ancestors for hundreds of thousands of years.
When do wisdom teeth start to be a problem?
The described changes in human ratios and habits were so rapid that our genetic mechanisms could not keep up with them. Our jaws become smaller, and in some cases, they just do not have room for wisdom teeth, which is why their growth could result in pain, infections, and impact on the other teeth.
The first recorded case of such health problems belongs to a Magdalenian Girl – a human skeleton 13-15,000 years old.
When will they gone?
Active genes responsible for wisdom teeth are gradually 'flushed out' of the human genome, but humankind needs a thousand or even tens of thousands of years to get rid of them. According to research, the mutation that causes the missing wisdom teeth appeared about 400,000 ago, and now we can observe that about 37% of the population has never developed them.
Summarizing the above, the chance of such teeth occurrence is almost a completely random lottery, depending on your specific ancestry. If you are unlucky to have this ancient heritage – you probably should ask your dentists whether your wisdom teeth formed correctly and if it is necessary to extract them.
