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Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up?

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Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up?

#41

Post by Aron »

synicalx wrote: post #25

It 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.

The sucking pressure is actually created by the lungs (or diaphragm) not the teeth. It's not clear which specialty is taught that.

Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up?

#43

Post by DrScump »

fern12 wrote: post #29
DrScump wrote: post #11

Blogspam 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.

Using "blogspam" in this context was inappropriately harsh, and I apologize.

But when submitting to HN one should use original sources wherever possible. In this case, the original source was stated right in the opening of the article.

True blogspam is when blogs (sometimes, even entire sites), trolling for clicks and presentations, copy content and/or misdirect readers for the purpose of garnering undeserved presentations.

Some of these even misroute you to malware using URL shorteners. There is no legitimate reason to use URL shorteners here.

Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up?

#44

Post by Aron »

everyone wrote: post #19
yousifa wrote: post #18

Semi-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.

My ancestors threw off the archaelogists by only dining on the soft heated innards of dead animals. Their teeth were a pointed exercise in falsification.

Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up?

#45

Post by car »

jacobolus wrote: post #32

This dentist Dr. Palmer (who died a few years back) had a theory that breastfeeding is of crucial importance in shaping the jaw, http://www.brianpalmerdds.com/summary.htm though I’ve seen some theorizing elsewhere that nutrient deficiency might also be a cause (in addition to the theory from TFA about chewing hard foods).

I might add that the shape of the baby bottle nipple is crucially important for correct development of the palate as well.

I only know of the german company NUK making these. They are recommended by orthodontists. More info here: https://www.nuk.de/de_en/about-nuk/nuk-concepts/the-nuk-shap...

Also available in the US: http://www.nuk-usa.com/orthodontic-pacifier/orthodontic-paci...

Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up?

#46

Post by azm1 »

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #27
mrob wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Id say this is the most important part.The sugar epidemic of our age is pretty crazy.

Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up?

#47

Post by Jaruzel »

kovrik wrote: post #26
elchief wrote: post #17

I 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?

I've had two removed. One just popped out when pulled with the extraction tools, the other totally shattered, which then required an operation under general anaesthetic to be fully removed[1].

Of the remaining two, my top left one is fully 'through' but at a slight rearward facing angle. I don't know if that is normal or not. The other (my bottom left) is 99% still under the surface, and like another commenter just said, is sideways orientated with the top of the tooth facing the front of my jaw. What sucks about this tooth is that because it's slightly erupted I do get food caught between it and my rear molar so I have to be very thorough when cleaning. It doesn't move at all (it's been like this 20 years now) or hurt, so I just live with it.

Here in the UK simple tooth extractions tend to be done with just local anaesthesia via injection into the gum[2]; Only the more complicated removals end up in hospital as a general anaesthetic based operation done by a Ear-Nose-and-Throat specialist.

The pain only really hits once the anaesthetic wears off. Tooth pain is one of the worse kinds of pain I think. It only lasts a few days though as the mouth has an amazing ability to heal compared to other parts of the body.

---

[1] I also had a largish mole on my brow removed as a freebie at the same time. Bonus!

[2] UK Dentists don't use gas.

Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up?

#48

Post by greggman »

I'm going to take this moment to rant at dentists!

Going to the doctor they get the excuse that they rarely do anything that could possibly hurt. Dentists on the other hand are practically doing minor surgery every time you visit them.

I know many of you will never have had any bad experiences at the dentist but I've had tons and what's extremely frustrating is many of them are preventable but dentists seem to have almost zero standards.

Examples:

Lukewarm water please. Many dentists just have tap water (maybe filtered) squirting into your mouth for rinsing. If that water happens to be cold gawd help you if you have a cold sensitive spot.

Similarly they have that suction hose which creates a draft. A draft that can cool sensitive teeth to the point they scream in pain.

One of the last dentists I went to connected something to my right cheek of my mount the hold it open. He'd turn around in his chair to get something behind him and yank my head off the headrest.

Another dentist I went to recently started cleaning my teeth. It felt like she was taking an ice pick and stabbing my gums. Needs to say I stopped her after about 30 seconds and left.

Went to a dentist that was supposed to specialize in painless-ness. He didn't have any kind of topical to numb you gums before injecting the anaesthetic. Not that it helps. It always burns like crazy when they inject that stuff for me. It does eventually make that part of my mouth numb though often not numb enough so when they get deep and they have to do it again.

When they hit pay dirt it feels like someone took a 6 inch white hot nail and using a hammer pounded it 4 inches deep into my head. The pain is searing. I'm not exaggerating. On a scale of 1 to 10 it's a 45 in pain.

I have lots more horror stories. And yes I brush twice a day, floss, and do other things to maintain my teeth. My teeth aren't normally painful but every visit to the dentist is hugely scary for me.

Someone PLEASE fix dentistry.

Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up?

#49

Post by Aron »

greggman wrote: post #48

I'm going to take this moment to rant at dentists! Going to the doctor they get the excuse that they rarely do anything that could possibly hurt. Dentists on the other hand are practically doing minor surgery every time you visit them. I know many of you will never have had any bad experiences at the dentist but I've had tons and what's extremely frustrating is many of them are preventable but dentists seem to have a…

What other things do you do to maintain your teeth? Are you talking about avoiding chewing popcorn kernels and ice? While I find these kinds of steps a decent start, the real and best method is to convert to the slurping of heated animal flesh slurry (or allowing their functioning cardiac system to deliver you the calories passively). These have the benefit of avoiding all excessive wear and tear that presents from grinding on high-silicon content plant life.

Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up?

#50

Post by kpil »

Aron wrote: post #41
synicalx wrote: post #25

It 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.

The sucking pressure is actually created by the lungs (or diaphragm) not the teeth. It's not clear which specialty is taught that.

It's primarily the tongue.
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