Why do we have wisdom teeth?

CrowdScience

BBC

Science, Technology

4.8 • 985 Ratings

🗓️ 23 February 2024

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Why do humans have wisdom teeth if so many of them get removed soon after they appear?

Wisdom teeth, the third molars in the back of our mouths, are so called because they normally appear in late teenage, early adulthood – the time in life we supposedly have learned some wisdom. But around 25% of people don’t develop all four. Of those that do emerge, it is not uncommon for them to appear at nasty angles, jutting into the tooth next door causing potentially dangerous infections and pain. Because of this, for decades many people have them surgically removed.

Listener Khaleel was preparing to have his remaining wisdom teeth removed when he wrote to CrowdScience to ask about them. Given that they can seem to cause more harm than good, why has evolution resulted in these troublesome teeth? But many people have perfectly uneventful relationships with their wisdom teeth, so have we perhaps removed more than we needed to over the years?

Anand Jagatia chews it over with the help of surgeons and dentists to try to extract the truth – why DO we have wisdom teeth?

Featuring: Tanya M Smith, Professor in the Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution at Griffith University, Australia Patrick Magennis, Consultant Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon at University Hospitals Aintree, Liverpool UK Verena Toedtling, Dentist and Specialist Oral Surgeon, UK

Presented by Anand Jagatia Produced by Alex Mansfield

Transcript

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0:00.0	Take some time for yourself with soothing classical music from the mindful mix, the Science of
0:07.0	Happiness Podcast.
0:08.0	For the last 20 years I've dedicated my career to exploring the science of living a happier more meaningful life and I want
0:14.4	to share that science with you.
0:16.1	And just one thing, deep calm with Michael Mosley.
0:19.4	I want to help you tap in to your hidden relaxation response system and open the door to that
0:25.4	calmer place within. Listen on BBC Sounds.
0:31.6	We lost our humanity. We lost our dignity. We got punished for something we did not do.
0:38.0	Amazing sports stories from the BBC World Service tells the story of the Black 14. Our young lives were flipped upside down.
0:46.2	Search for amazing sports stories wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Would you've probably be able to guess how many wisdom teeth you've probably taken out over the years?
1:01.0	Probably phos thousands. Really? Yes I of course were both
1:08.0	wisdom teeth and you ruled a lot of wisdom teeth and I used to have a logbook when I was a trainee and I think thousands of wisdom people.
1:20.0	No, I stopped counting. There we are.
1:24.0	Here it comes, there we are.
1:29.0	There we are, one tooth.
1:30.0	Just have a look at the roots, yeah, they're all there. I would squeeze the sides of the socket together.
1:35.0	That's fine and we'll have a swamp here very much to bite on and then.
1:41.0	There we are, well that's all right. Easy peasy, hey?
1:46.0	Mary, right.
1:47.0	Hello, you're listening to crowd science from the BBC World Service. I'm Anna and Jagatilla and right off the bat I want to apologize if those sounds are making you wince, gingerly feel your jaw or bring back bad memories from the dentist chair. But it can't be helped.
2:06.7	Although this is a show that usually tries to implant wisdom into your head by answering
2:11.0	your science questions, today we're focusing on extracting wisdom out of your head, at least
	...

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