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.
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.
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.
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.
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.