The Surprising Evolution of Human Teeth

The evolution of human teeth never stops evolving. We are all in the presence of microevolution. But how did evolution affect our teeth? Well, for starters, a lot of people don’t even develop wisdom teeth anymore.

 Modern-day humans evolve in minuscule ways, but it is still occurring in minor aspects around our bodies, yet we’re transforming into something different, alright.

 Since humankind has been around, human teeth have adapted to their environment without failure, adjusting and repositioning individual teeth in different areas to suit our needs.

 But dental issues are still present today. They vary from individual teeth incrementing in abnormal sizes to other forms of drastic changes in human evolution.

 Our ancient ancestors developed more ape-like teeth as they were still in their early stages of development; they didn’t utilize any tools for eating or cooking their food until a couple of thousands of years later.

 Are Human Teeth Still Changing and Evolving?

Photo by today.duke.ed

 Altogether, there seems to be something that is stumping human evolution as a whole.

 What does this mean? Well, according to paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould, “There’s been no biological change in humans in the last 40,000 or 50,000 years regarding numerous aspects in our bodies.

These changes come in the form of smaller hands, larger eyes, bigger brains, and other parts of our bodies have either increased or reduced in size.”

 This bold statement gives us more insight into the fact that either human evolution has become stale and imperceptibly slow or reached a stage in the evolutionary chain with the human species feeling “comfortable” with how far it’s come in relation to the adaptation to the world around us.

 Now, what about just our teeth? Have they stopped evolving?

Photo by www.sciencemag.org

For this, believe it or not, we must not focus our attention on a picture-perfect man or woman but rather, babies.

 Babies are a critical factor in discovering the truth behind human evolution. Researchers are noticing that babies are born with slightly smaller jaws and extra bones in their legs and feet in the past century. You may not be able to see it perceive it physically.

 Still, researchers state that if you were to put a camera in front of generations of people, you would be capable of noticing the drastic changes in our bodies, the most noticeable one being hair loss. This is something that scientists are referring to as “microevolution.”

 This means that in the chain of general human evolution, the human species has still been making small adaptations and changes to confront better the day-to-day challenges humans face.

 Something that also influences the evolution of these small changes includes the way humans have changed their way of feeding and nurturing themselves.

 The babies born without wisdom teeth now don’t just save themselves a trip to the dentist when they grow but are also seemingly born with extra arteries in their arms.

 Leading doctors worldwide to believe that since we’re so fond of extracting them and using them less and less. Our bodies and genetic codes focus their attention on developing and adding ‘features’ that benefit our bodies in a more significant manner.

 So what does this mean? Well, there may be a time where humans are born without wisdom teeth anymore, and our overall natural teeth will become even more fine-tuned and adapted to our diets and day to day lives.

The Most Shocking Facts about Human Teeth

Photo from www.absolutedental.com

Those who think that the only real purpose of teeth is to chew and shred food apart, well, they are entirely wrong. The following are just some of the most interesting facts about human teeth; some may come as a surprise to you.

• We can only observe about one-third of the entirety of our teeth. The rest of the percentage of your tooth is hiding beneath your gums; otherwise, you would have rather large teeth. What this means is that about two-thirds of your teeth are not visible.
•  Most bones in your body can slowly regenerate or, in other words, fuse with themselves; this may occur to those who possibly broke a bone and never treated their wounds. However, did you know that your teeth are the only bones in your entire body that cannot heal or regenerate in any way, shape, or form.
•  Your tongue is quite an interesting muscle, but the taste buds on it are even more compelling. The taste buds above and around the surface of your tongue have a lifespan of about eight to ten days. And takes approximately one to two weeks to regenerate those taste buds. This topic still intrigues many specialists to this day.
• The human mouth has gone through many phases of evolution and has changed quite a lot. But, our mouths contain more bacteria than the number of people on planet earth. Try wrapping your head around that for just a second.
•  Enamel, or the thin layer covering the surface of your tooth, is, in fact, the most complex part of your entire mouth. It can’t regenerate, but a dentist can fix this problem if the tooth presents any damage. 
• Close to about ninety percent of oral diseases such as life-threatening diseases around the human heart or diabetes directly connect to your oral health. That is why dental surgeons recommend going to the dental clinic for dental checkups.

After viewing these surprisingly outstanding facts about our teeth, you may want to think twice about how you treat and care for your teeth.

Remember that a simple brushing and flossing session can make a huge difference in our oral health. And our dental habits to prevent harmful bacteria and diseases from developing in our mouths.

 We only have two sets of teeth; let’s try to make the most out of our pearly white smiles. Book your dental cleaning every six months with your dentist in Tijuana.