Just had two wisdom teeth out last week. I hadnt been to the dentist in years and years (my old dentist died years ago)
I went to a new one because of some pain, turns out one of my lower wisdom teeth was burrowing into the molar in front of it and causing a cavity under the gum which was the source of the pain.
Now I need to see if I can get that cavity fixed, or else have that molar pulled too.
Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up?
21–30 of 168 posts
Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up?
#22If you want a more simplistic overview of the cause of cavities, this seemed to be quite accessible. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtdwHR7Fpyo
Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up?
#23When I see old human skeletons always wonder how they kept their teeth so good. Without toothpaste, toothbrush or floss. What are we doing wrong?
There's evidence that cleaning with toothpaste is no better than cleaning with water alone (keyword for search "dentifrice":
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27513809
There's evidence that plant root fiber toothbrushes are at least as good as nylon bristle toothbrushes (keywords for search "miswak", "chewing stick"), eg: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15643758 (in my personal experience they work just fine, but they are more hassle than nylon toothbrushes because the bristles point in the same direction as the handle instead of to the side)
There's also evidence that flossing+brushing has no advantage over brushing alone: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19138178
Of course, medical research is notoriously unreliable, but it's at least plausible that ancient humans had all the technology needed to keep their teeth in good condition.
Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up?
#24Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up?
#25It always struck me as funny that if you want to get into Medicine you can either do the normal MD course that covers 95% of the body (obviously, you may be able to specialize much later on) OR you can do the other 5% as a Dentist (and again, you may chose to specialize later).
Teeth suck, I'm hanging out for "I can't believe they're not teeth" implants so I can stop worrying about the damn things.
Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up?
#26I had to get my front molars and wisdom teeth removed to make room in my jaw (got braces, all good) Saw the x-ray of my wisdoms. The tops were facing my front teeth, ie 90 degrees rotated
I have the same issue with my wisdoms. Seems to be a common thing. Weird.
Was it painful to remove wisdoms?
Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up?
#27When I see old human skeletons always wonder how they kept their teeth so good. Without toothpaste, toothbrush or floss. What are we doing wrong?
There's evidence that cleaning with toothpaste is no better than cleaning with water alone (keyword for search "dentifrice": https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27513809 There's evidence that plant root fiber toothbrushes are at least as good as nylon bristle toothbrushes (keywords for search "miswak", "chewing stick"), eg: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15643758 (in my personal experience they work just fine, b…
Also, they didn't have refined sugar in their diet.
Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up?
#28Semi-related: When I was in the canyons of New Mexico learning about various tribes and their lifestyles, I learned that many died from tooth-related infections. This is because the mortars they used were made from softer stone that crumbled in the grinding process (when they grind maize). These tiny pieces of stone essentially ground down their teeth. If I remember correctly, because of this their average lifespan w…
Most people using stone grinding wheels throughout history has the same issue, from the beginning of farming up until a couple hundred years ago in Europe say. Archeologists use the amount of wear on a skeletons teeth to determine their age quite accurately.
This is also part of why white bread was historically considered healthier - removing the wheat germ and bran kind of faked the look of stone-grain-free bread.
Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up?
#29Blogspam of https://aeon.co/ideas/its-not-that-your-teeth-are-too-big-yo...
What is "blogspam"? New to HN, and trying to maintain good posting etiquette. I posted the same link from sapiens.org a while back.
Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up?
#30I had to get my front molars and wisdom teeth removed to make room in my jaw (got braces, all good) Saw the x-ray of my wisdoms. The tops were facing my front teeth, ie 90 degrees rotated
I have the same issue with my wisdoms. Seems to be a common thing. Weird. Was it painful to remove wisdoms?
Not GP, but I've had 4 removed and it wasn't painful (under local anaesthetics). Just really uncomfortable, especially when you hear and _feel_ the crunch of a tooth being uprooted.