As we grow, the speed of our life relate to a number of things, like hormonal changes, physical growth, and dental development.
Most of us remember our wisdom teeth erupting, especially if you live in a region where they’re commonly extracted, being wrenched out of our jaws.
It’s only one of three molar milestones, but we had no understanding why wisdom teeth appeared so late in life until recently.
A study in Science Advances suggests why wisdom teeth emerge so late in life. It turns out that our jaws grow very slowly, likely due to our overall slow life histories.
If wisdom teeth emerged earlier, the molars could actually damage the jaw they’re growing out of.
The study was co-authored by a paleoanthropologist at Arizona State University. People often think wisdom teeth are an evolutionary leftover from a distant past that’s no longer relevant.
UK, they’re only removed if they become problematic, and there is no proven benefit to removing them.
Our squashy faces and slow development are part of what makes us human, dental development and all.
