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Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up? (2017)

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Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up? (2017)

#51

Post by lettergram »

mgiampapa wrote: post #46
skc wrote: post #40

Teeth are annoying. Mine are ok, but as I get older I start to notice their deterioration. I've always felt that if there was a part of our anatomy that we should think of replacing completely with an artificial design, it's teeth. We already do so now (at great expense), but it's literally one or two teeth replaced but I'm thinking more along the lines of replacing every single one with something stronger and more e…

This used to be quite common. In Ireland for example back in the 1970s about 30% of the population had no natural teeth whatsoever. It used to be a common thing for young women to have all their teeth pulled and replaced with dentures before being married. It was seen as a desirable trait for en eligible bride to be.

Do you have a citation on that, I’m genuinely curious about the stats on that.

Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up? (2017)

#52

Post by narrator »

skc wrote: post #40

Teeth are annoying. Mine are ok, but as I get older I start to notice their deterioration. I've always felt that if there was a part of our anatomy that we should think of replacing completely with an artificial design, it's teeth. We already do so now (at great expense), but it's literally one or two teeth replaced but I'm thinking more along the lines of replacing every single one with something stronger and more e…

A person I know got their whole mouth replaced with cubic zirconia implants in his 30s and is pretty happy about it. He just said that he screwed up his teeth very badly in his 20s somehow. I didn't ask.

Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up? (2017)

#53

Post by djakjxnanjak »

keithwhor wrote: post #44
QuackingJimbo wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Care to link to a good methodology? I've been intrigued by this but there's a lot of conflicting information out there

I would go and schedule an interview with an orthodontist instead of relying on the internet, here. "Orthrotropics" appears to be a registered trademark, which is, at the very least, a yellow flag. A cursory search on details has broken this down to extractive / surgical vs. non-extractive / non-surgical orthodontics, the latter of which has proven to be effective before the palate and growth plates have fused -- in…

> Talk to somebody you trust with a degree in the field.

Tough ask for a lot of people! I have a distant uncle who works as a dentist in the Appalacians and does a lot of pro-bono work. My family has a tradition of taking the children on a trip to see him to ask if they really need braces. Often the answer is no.

I’d feel confident asking him this question, but I don’t think most people have someone like that.

Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up? (2017)

#54

Post by SamReidHughes »

forgotmypw3 wrote: post #15

In addition to all the other arguments here (more chewing for bigger jaw development), I have another theory about tooth decay. I think that pre-civilization humans did not eat much sweets past adolescence. This is because, as soon as a minor cavity starts developing, it hurts like hell to put anything sweet in your mouth. Sweet stuff was for children and adolescents, then we just stopped eating it.

I never had pain putting sweet stuff in my mouth when I had cavities.

Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up? (2017)

#55

Post by pessimizer »

sashavingardt2 wrote: post #3

You ever wonder when they show a tribe from G-d knows where that had barely any contact with our civilization, how come they've got perfect white teeth and they've got them all? Nothing crooked, nothing missing.

I'm sure that this is caused by a number of reasons - some native american groups have very thick enamel, some groups have saliva that is naturally antibacterial for the types of bacteria that cause cavities (but from what I understand, this second trait is also associated with heart disease.)

It might be better to investigate these things based on the assumption that "G-d knows where" isn't a single place, and that all people that one considers primitive aren't the same people.

For example, you ever wonder when they show primitive people and their teeth are terrible, or when people that live in your culture spend no time on their teeth and never visit the dentist, but their teeth are fine?

Or how some people are naturally thin, and some have bone structures that seem like they were made to be fat?

Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up? (2017)

#56

Post by flatline »

skc wrote: post #40

Teeth are annoying. Mine are ok, but as I get older I start to notice their deterioration. I've always felt that if there was a part of our anatomy that we should think of replacing completely with an artificial design, it's teeth. We already do so now (at great expense), but it's literally one or two teeth replaced but I'm thinking more along the lines of replacing every single one with something stronger and more e…

My father had all of his pulled (from necessity) and is having them replaced with implants. It’s a very expensive and time consuming process, involving minor preliminary surgeries. I know someone else who had this done and regretted it, several of the implants kept coming out and the replacement procedure was painful and expensive. But it can be done.

Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up? (2017)

#57

Post by djakjxnanjak »

keithwhor wrote: post #22

Isn't an alternative explanation just that well-aligned jaws and spaced teeth are selected for via both (A) natural selection, esp. in predator species (well-aligned jaw = more efficient prey capture, chewing, defense) and (B) sexual selection as a holdover result of the first? As in, if ancestors relied heavily on their jaws and, behaviourally, a selective preference for well-aligned jaws and teeth helped favor offs…

Couple of evolutionary pressures that would make sense to me:

1) Human ancestors didn’t live as long, giving them less time for teeth to get misaligned in a terrible way.

2) Animals will tend to lose teeth for various reasons, so some extra teeth (including eg. wisdom teeth that appear during the prime of life) are probably useful spares more often than not. Not enough teeth was probably a more likely cause of death than too many.

Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up? (2017)

#59

Post by proy24 »

mgiampapa wrote: post #46
skc wrote: post #40

Teeth are annoying. Mine are ok, but as I get older I start to notice their deterioration. I've always felt that if there was a part of our anatomy that we should think of replacing completely with an artificial design, it's teeth. We already do so now (at great expense), but it's literally one or two teeth replaced but I'm thinking more along the lines of replacing every single one with something stronger and more e…

This used to be quite common. In Ireland for example back in the 1970s about 30% of the population had no natural teeth whatsoever. It used to be a common thing for young women to have all their teeth pulled and replaced with dentures before being married. It was seen as a desirable trait for en eligible bride to be.

I was genuinely thinking about this...I mean for enamel is so high maintenance and gets spoilt so easily not just germs but also acid reflux and natural decay...

Re: Why Are Human Teeth So Messed Up? (2017)

#60

Post by knotty66 »

skc wrote: post #40

Teeth are annoying. Mine are ok, but as I get older I start to notice their deterioration. I've always felt that if there was a part of our anatomy that we should think of replacing completely with an artificial design, it's teeth. We already do so now (at great expense), but it's literally one or two teeth replaced but I'm thinking more along the lines of replacing every single one with something stronger and more e…

This is the principal behind 'all-on-4' dental implants. I've no idea how good they are though. I've seen a few YouTube videos but you never really know if they're paid shills nowadays.
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