What's the point of wisdom teeth?

Question

.. if we just get them taken out? Why has nature provided us with a pain in the mouth tooth? If there is no room for them... then why are they still here?

Is it another "tonsil situation"?

Seriously! I might have to get mine taken out pretty soon, and I want my pain explained!

Thanks. :D

Answer 1

Back in the cave men days we used to use them and have room for them. Few people will have enough room for them, most of us are now stuck with these useless teeth b/c our faces have evolved. It is also discussed that they have done so b/c of our large consumption of simple sugars.

Answer 2

Some people have large mouths and lots of room for them....and for them they do have a point.

It seems for most people (and maybe this is an anthropological thing) but we seem to not have enough room (maybe not enough tearing and chewing of raw meat like the cave men!) for them, and they come in horizontal, or pushing against the existing teeth. They then cause problems in the jaw and should be removed to preserve the bite of the rest of the teeth in our jaw.

Plus they are hard to clean!  Usually if they get a cavity now, many dentists will just pull, and not fill these teeth.  

Good luck, it will probably go well, and don't believe all these crazy stories on YA about wisdom teeth extraction.  Hundreds of thousands are removed daily with NO problems!

Answer 3

It's true, most of us don't have enough space for wisdom teeth anymore, but there was a time when most of us did. Our mouths are getting smaller, but evolution hasn't quite caught up yet...at least not for all of us. Some people are born without wisdom teeth and others have only one, or two, or even three.