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Comment by ftxbro | Hacker News Reader

> they found a wisdom tooth that had once belonged to one of the individuals whose bones were found

What if the reason we have problems with wisdom teeth is that some of us have neanderthal sized teeth but a homo sapiens sized jaw.

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According to the book Breath by James Nestor, humans did not always have wisdom teeth problems: today, modern humans have small jaws because, during our youth, we spend less time chewing our food, so the muscles and bones in our skulls are stunted. Old skulls, like those found in crypts of old European cities, had larger jaws. (I'm going off of memory - my apologies if this explanation is too reductionist.)

The mechanics of oral health are really interesting in regards to foods and chewing them. It seems like processed foods are likely a massive contributor to declining oral health. The more you need to chew your food, the better, from what I can tell.

Our foods used to be way harder to consume. Not only would that lead to people having healthier teeth and gums (just like your pet dog!), but it likely helped people maintain healthier body weights as well.

Poor oral health also leads to a lot of other problems, stemming from bacterial infections that can spread to almost anywhere else in the body.

"Wisdom teeth problems" largely do not exist. It's a scam American doctors perpetuate because it's profitable.

Said a person who never had an impacted wisdom tooth.

There's a million and one health problems that catch up to you in later life.

Impacted wisdom teeth is like number 100 on the list, by frequency and severity.

I think the point is that it is very painful and the treatment provides relief, so not much of a scam.

Everyone responding is coming from a place where they were impacted by wisdom teeth, are you instead talking about extracting wisdom teeth as a precautionary practice, before they become a problem? Because otherwise it reads that you are trying to tell people that they are mistaken about a problem they have experienced.

Probably an emotional topic too, given how painful wisdom teeth can be.

Maybe you've just had crap dentists. 30 years ago in my late teens I had exactly one wisdom tooth removed and I still have the others today. It was removed because it was coming in perpendicular to the other teeth, starting to push on neighboring teeth, and that was extremely visible on an x-ray. The others were coming in fine and the dentist left them alone.

I had impacted wisdom teeth and bad mouth pain from 14-18. It was so bad I couldn’t chew on the side it hurt on, when both sides started to hurt I went to the dentist. It was so bad I could only chew with my front teeth at times. He realized they were impacted and removed them.

My friend never had an issue and still has his wisdom teeth, his siblings were not so lucky.

There is a theory that some modern dental alignment issues are caused by the blending of genes across different ethnic groups.

There are human populations that are more neanderthal than others. But its generally frowned upon to discuss the implications

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