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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)

#91

Post by ntucker »

knotty66 wrote: post #60
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.

I effectively have an "all-on-4" situation but where the 4 are my natural teeth. I have a genetic condition which caused very few of my adult teeth to grow, so the ones that did grow in nice and solid have been capped with machined gold cylinders and used as the receivers for a full denture (google "telescopic copings"), which fits perfectly on them and also acts as a retainer for those teeth. It's actually quite nice and comfortable and my teeth went from being a painful horror show to functional and trouble-free in a relatively short timeframe.

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

#92

Post by nchammas »

keithwhor wrote: post #33
chansiky wrote: post #19

If you haven't heard of orthotropics, it sounds a bit pseuodoscience-ey, but it attempts to solve the crooked teeth issue by enlargening the jaw rather than through braces. Thus far, I have to say that I think there's some truth to exerting a little pressure to my maxilla/mandible, and if anything I can breathe much better, which for me is a bigger win than getting straighter teeth.

I think the real science here is Orthognathic Surgery [1]. I mean - I'm not an orthodontist or a surgeon, but once growth has stopped in the palate as a teenager or young adult I'd be skeptical of claims around bone growth or sculpting. Do you have any resources? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthognathic_surgery

I'm in my early 30s, and I recently had my maxilla and mandible non-surgically expanded with a combination of appliances, one called Advanced Lightwire Functional (ALF) and the other called Fixed Anterior Growth Guidance Appliance (FAGGA).

Treatments that make use of the Orthotropics philosophy or of appliances like the ALF or FAGGA are relatively new and are not mainstream. However, there are many case studies available online showing them in action and showing before/after pictures.

I don't know what kind of resources you're looking for, but this video [1] provides a quick introduction to Orthotropics.

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D70VF43Evw

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

#93

Post by timbit42 »

qwerty456127 wrote: post #58

Misaligned teeth are not the worst problem IMHO. The fact teeth of most of the humans decay in less than a lifetime and this is considered normal feels much more weird to me.

The average human lifetime has more than doubled in the past few hundred years.

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

#94

Post by cyberferret »

As a slight aside from the premise of the article, I was reminded of a story my friend once told me. He is a policeman, and works with the Water Police department in our town.

One day, they got a call from some dirt bikers who were riding in the mangroves beaches across the bay that they had found two skeletons partially buried in the mud. As per standard procedures, a police patrol was dispatched to investigate (which included my friend), and also as per SOP, because the area was a known ancient Aboriginal burial ground, they took an anthropologist out with them as part of the investigative team.

When they got to the site and were approaching the two semi exposed skeletons, the anthropologist said (while still a few feet away from them) "Oh, these pre date local colonial settlement and are probably over a hundred years old".

My policeman friend was curious, and asked her how she could tell even from afar that these were not more current remains, and she said "It's the teeth. There is absolutely no sign of decay caused by sugars in modern diets".

He (and I) never realised the extent of damage done to our teeth by what we eat today.

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

#96

Post by gregcrv »

QuackingJimbo wrote: post #39
Empact wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm 34 and have personally experienced significant changes in my face thanks to orthotropic pressure / mewing, and have the photos to prove it. In addition, my bite has been stable without a retainer, whereas in the past I've had braces twice. My background is I had an undiagnosed mild tongue tie that I discovered a bit over a year ago. I previously couldn’t press my tongue against the roof of my mouth, which led to…

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

Look at functional orthodontics.

http://www.aafo.org

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

#97

Post by [deleted] »

ryanmarsh wrote: post #75
chronogram wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does a parent have the ability to say that over some teen's body..? It's horrible to me to read that people would just say that.

Having had wisdom teeth removed, a couple root canals and several cavaties, and having seen the discomfort and problems my wife and daughter’s impacted teeth have had on them, you could do much worse than just ripping them all out and replacing them with high quality manufactured teeth. Human teeth are about as reliable as the gal bladder. Obviously it would be preferable to maintain your essence but (post)agrarian d…

[deleted]

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

#98

Post by Scoundreller »

narrator wrote: post #52
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.

I feel like I'd love to have that, but I run into the same reasoning against laser eye surgery:

My work benefits cover full dental and my contacts, but I would have to pay substantial out-of-pocket for those procedures, even if they could save the benefits plan money over time.

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

#99

Post by refurb »

cyberferret wrote: post #94

As a slight aside from the premise of the article, I was reminded of a story my friend once told me. He is a policeman, and works with the Water Police department in our town. One day, they got a call from some dirt bikers who were riding in the mangroves beaches across the bay that they had found two skeletons partially buried in the mud. As per standard procedures, a police patrol was dispatched to investigate (whi…

Two thoughts:

1. They really are no sugar in aboriginal societies? No fruit or carbs?

2. I know a handful of people who eat Western diets who have zero tooth decay.

Doesn’t seem like a great way to tell the age of a skull.

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

#100

Post by Scoundreller »

spaceman_2020 wrote: post #10

A dentist told me that eating too many soft foods as a kid is often the reason for crooked and weak teeth, and that parents should feed their kids tougher whole foods, like apples, meat, carrots, nuts, etc.

Definitely true for muscle and jaw bone density.
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