Why We Have So Many Problems with Our Teeth

Why We Have So Many Problems with Our Teeth

Our choppers(ˈCHäpər) are crowded, crooked(ˈkro͝okəd) and riddled(ˈridl) with cavities(ˈkavədē). It hasn’t always been this way

By Peter S. Ungar

I sat(sat) at an oral(ˈôrəl) surgeon’s(ˈsərjən) office waiting for my daughter. The scene(sēn) called to mind an assembly(əˈsemblē) line. Patients went in, one after another, resigned to having their third molars(ˈmōlər), commonly known as wisdom(ˈwizdəm) teeth, taken out. They left with bandages(ˈbandij), specially(ˈspeSHəlē) form-fitted with ice packs, wrapped around their heads. Each carried a gift T-shirt, preprinted(ˌprēˈprin(t)id) home care instructions, and prescriptions(prəˈskripSH(ə)n) for antibiotics(ˌan(t)ēbīˈädik, ˌanˌtībīˈädik) and pain meds(med).

Removal(rəˈmo͞ovəl) of the wisdom teeth is almost a rite(rīt) of passage(ˈpasij) for young adults in America today. From my vantage point, however, there is something very wrong with this tradition. I am a dental(ˈden(t)l) anthropologist(ˌanTHrəˈpäləjəst) and evolutionary(ˌevəˈlo͞oSHəˌnerē) biologist and have spent 30 years studying the teeth of living and fossil(ˈfäsəl) humans and countless other species(ˈspēsēz, ˈspēSHēz). Our dental issues are not normal. Most other vertebrate(ˈvərdəbrət) creatures do not have the same dental problems that we do. They rarely(ˈrerlē) have crooked teeth or cavities. Our fossil forebears(ˈfôrber) did not have impacted wisdom teeth, and few appear to have had gum(ɡəm) disease(dəˈzēz).

Indeed, the teeth of modern-day humans are a profound contradiction(ˌkäntrəˈdikSH(ə)n). They are the hardest parts of our body yet are incredibly fragile(ˈfrajəl). Although teeth endure(inˈd(y)o͝or) for millions of years in the fossil record, ours cannot seem to last a lifetime in our mouths. Teeth gave our ancestors(ˈanˌsestər) dominance(ˈdämənəns) over the organic(ôrˈɡanik) world, yet today ours require special daily care to be maintained(mānˈtān). The contradiction is new and is limited largely to industrial(inˈdəstrēəl)-age and contemporary populations. It is best explained(ikˈsplān) by a mismatch between today’s diets and those for which our teeth and jaws evolved. Paleontologists(ˌpālēˌänˈtäləjəst) have long understood that our teeth are deeply rooted in evolutionary history. Now clinical(ˈklinək(ə)l) researchers and dental(ˈden(t)l) practitioners(prakˈtiSH(ə)nər) are also starting to take notice.

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https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-we-have-so-many-problems-with-our-teeth/