| The reason why some wisdom
teeth are impacted is not an easy question to answer.
A primary cause of wisdom tooth impaction is simply that
there is inadequate jawbone space behind the person's
second molar. Why this lack of space exists is not fully
understood, however there does seem to be a correlation
between large tooth size, tooth crowding, and the presence
of impacted wisdom teeth.
It has been theorized that the coarse nature of stone
age man's diet had the effect of producing extensive
tooth wear, not only on the chewing surface of the teeth
but also on the sides of the teeth where neighboring
teeth rest against each other. The net effect of this
wear would be a reduction in the collective "length"
of the teeth as a set, thus creating enough jawbone
space to accommodate the wisdom teeth by the time they
erupted. In comparison the diet of modern man does not
usually cause a significant amount of this type of tooth
wear.
It has also been argued that the coarse nature of stone
age man's diet, as compared to modern man's relatively
soft diet, probably required more activity of the "chewing"
muscles. This activity could have stimulated greater
jawbone growth, thus providing more space for wisdom
teeth.
The harsh and threatening world of the caveman no doubt
often lead to the occurrence of broken teeth and even
tooth loss. Once a tooth (or a portion of it) is missing
the teeth behind it have a tendency to move forward.
This shifting would make more jawbone space available
for the wisdom teeth. In comparison, with the advent
of modern dentistry there are relatively few reasons
why a tooth should be lost or remain in a state of disrepair.
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