According to experts in anthropology, wisdom teeth used to play a very important role in the way our ancestors chewed their food, but the switch to agricultural society about 10,000 years ago has transformed the diet of early humans, with food softer and easier to grind, which also rendered wisdom teeth practically useless. However, vestigial organs take very long to disappear from the body, therefore we still have wisdom teeth, but in a form that often causes severe health problems. Here are some of the most common issues:
- Decay – wisdom teeth are both unused and difficult to reach for cleaning, therefore they are more likely to develop cavities and infections than other teeth;
- Improper eruption – another common problem that affects wisdom teeth is that very often they do not have enough space to develop correctly. In some cases, they erupt, but they don’t grow straight, in other cases, they completely fail to erupt, growing horizontally, underneath the gum, pushing the adjacent teeth and damaging them, too.
The most common solution to the issues caused by wisdom teeth is wisdom tooth removal – the tooth has no purpose anyway, therefore getting rid of it can only be beneficial for the entire row of teeth as well as for general health.
source https://www.oralsurgery-hicd.com/blog/do-wisdom-teeth-have-a-purpose/
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