Why do humans grow wisdom teeth?

Question

What's the evolutionary advantage? They do nothing but cause pain, right? Shouldn't they be vestigial structures that stopped developing so largely by now?

Answer 1

its a caveman thing so the more years that go by the less people have have my mom only got 2 of her 4 some poeple dont get any

Answer 2

It's not too long ago since mankind started to take an interest in dental hygiene.

Earlier on, people lost their teeth at a much younger age than we do now. With the loss of their teeth they lost the essential chewing function. Now your wisdom teeth errupt in a much later point in your life than your other teeth. So if you've already lost your 'regular' teeth, around your 18-20s you'll have 4 extra teeth!

Answer 3

I believe it's part of when our ancestors had bigger jaws that could hold the extra teeth. We still grow wisdom teeth for the same reason we still have a tailbone. They're residual traits from our distant primate ancestors.