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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)

#191

Post by feanaro »

Mirioron wrote: post #173
andrei_says_ wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you trying to imply that refined sugars do not cause an increase in tooth decay? Or that fruit sugar is similar to refined sugars? Any ties with the sugar lobbby famous for lobbying the US government into blackmailing the WHO in increasing the amounts “healthy” sugar in their dietary guidelines?

"Refined sugar" is sugar in fruit. It is literally the same thing. That's how we get sugar in the first place - from plants. You are dealing with glucose, fructose, and sucrose in both cases.

Why was this downvoted? This is correct.

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

#192

Post by feanaro »

frosted-flakes wrote: post #154
flurdy wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is why dental veneers [1] are so popular with the easily influenced reality-show-wannabees. If you can afford veneers you have apparently made it... So much that some of the reality stars make it a show or as part of their contracts. [2][3] Except they look ridiculous and many can't chew properly especially some meat afterwards... Not sure I'd want my teeth ground down to little sticks. Nature works best as it…

I don't know if you'd call it a veneer, but one of my upper central incisors is a ceramic and stainless steel cap over a ground down "stick", and the real one is night and day better than the fake. The real one is slightly serrated and has a sharp edge, while the fake one is totally smooth and rounded, and slightly thicker. Essentially, it feels like the mould was made out of play-doh. I can't imagine having my whole…

This isn't a necessity, though. It boils down to the exact technique used and the skill of the technician making your tooth. Yours just sounds like it was made badly.

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

#193

Post by nightfly »

philwelch wrote: post #123
ip26 wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The spine worked pretty well until computers, as far as I understood.

Nah. You've never heard of someone having a "bad back"? That's been a common thing for centuries. You can tell because it doesn't have a fancy Greek- or Latin-derived name. And there seems to be an understanding that "bad back" is an extremely common thing that can happen to anyone. For example, when JFK was president, many of his health issues were covered up because they wanted to project the image of a young, heal…

I'm reasonably sure most "back" issues are more related to the muscles than the spine. (people /can/ have spine issues, I just don't think it's as common).

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

#194

Post by vidarh »

Baeocystin wrote: post #174
therealdrag0 wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree it sounds like bullshit. However, I have listened to a talk by a lady (she consults on murdered cadavers) who can tell which season a body died in by analyzing the teeth! Apparently there is a lot there.

That I can believe, assuming a detailed analysis in a lab. But snap judging from a distance? Cavities are more common in modern populations than before, but hardly omnipresent. I do find it an amusing thought that apparently my skeleton would be assigned a more distant past simply because I am filling free. :D

The more likely sign is not fillings, but acid damage, which softens teeth and cause biting and grinding to wear down the surface of the teeth. You can have no fillings and still have very noticeable acid-related damage.

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

#195

Post by WA »

SteveCoast wrote: post #106
refurb wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

"Doesn’t seem like a great way to tell the age of a skull." The confidence of people far away at a different time without any relevant knowledge to dismiss an experienced local on the ground based on flawed high-level logic never ceases to surprise.

Since when does an anecdote provide any proof? I thought exactly the same things as your parent poster. Carbs are sugar, especially if you chew long enough. This affects teeth. Combine this with a lack of toothbrushes and a lack of fluoride and it sounds like a recipe for tooth decay.

Also, people didn’t live as long as they do now. So less chance to have your teeth rotten. Furthermore: the skeletons might have been of people in their twenties with arguably better teeth than old people.

Lots of questions that this anecdote doesn’t answer and you dismiss critique as pretentious.

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

#196

Post by skrebbel »

refurb wrote: post #99
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.

I'm not sure I've ever seen a better example of classic HN-style "middlebrow dismissal" than this comment. I want to print it and frame it.

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

#197

Post by vidarh »

flurdy wrote: post #72
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…

Which is why dental veneers [1] are so popular with the easily influenced reality-show-wannabees. If you can afford veneers you have apparently made it... So much that some of the reality stars make it a show or as part of their contracts. [2][3] Except they look ridiculous and many can't chew properly especially some meat afterwards... Not sure I'd want my teeth ground down to little sticks. Nature works best as it…

There are different types of veneers. Most cosmetic veneers are just thin layers glued onto the tooth, and often leave most or all of the underlying tooth intact. Full veneer crowns involve grinding it down.

I have cosmetic veneers on two teeth that were intact but looked awful, and they're just a layer of porcelain laminate glued to my real tooth. The underlying tooth was polished and filed a bit, but certainly not "ground down to little sticks"; the teeth could have been left as-is and functioned fine.

I also have several full crowns, but they were down because of decay, certainly not for cosmetic purposes. That of course does not mean that you can't do full crowns for cosmetic purposes, but it's usually a last resort before implants.

If you can't chew properly on a crown you have a bad dentist. Nature really does not work best in this case for a lot of us - two of my crowns are in place because parts of the real tooth shattered into several pieces while chewing, others because the damage eventually got so severe that there was too little left to save.

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

#198

Post by vidarh »

frosted-flakes wrote: post #154
flurdy wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is why dental veneers [1] are so popular with the easily influenced reality-show-wannabees. If you can afford veneers you have apparently made it... So much that some of the reality stars make it a show or as part of their contracts. [2][3] Except they look ridiculous and many can't chew properly especially some meat afterwards... Not sure I'd want my teeth ground down to little sticks. Nature works best as it…

I don't know if you'd call it a veneer, but one of my upper central incisors is a ceramic and stainless steel cap over a ground down "stick", and the real one is night and day better than the fake. The real one is slightly serrated and has a sharp edge, while the fake one is totally smooth and rounded, and slightly thicker. Essentially, it feels like the mould was made out of play-doh. I can't imagine having my whole…

Really sounds like you had a bad dentist. Whenever you do get around to having it fixed, don't let them get away with it.

Also note that dentistry tech advances very rapidly; a proper crown done now will be substantially better than a crown done a decade ago, and certainly a lot better than a mediocre one done a decade ago.

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

#199

Post by cal5k »

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 recently had major orthognathic surgery, a two-step process: surgically-assisted rapid palatal expansion (SARPE), where your palate is basically "mobilized" and cracked down the midline to allow for expansion in adults, and then maxillomandibular advancement (MMA), which advances the entire jaw forward ~10mm. The braces should hopefully be coming off soon.

Obviously I did this for medical reasons - sleep apnea - but I do wonder if the so-called epidemic of sleep apnea could be related to the dietary changes described in this article.

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

#200

Post by mcv »

NeedMoreTea wrote: post #186
wumms wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The changes in sensing time while growing old are said to work in the other direction, so he might be on to something. :) Also, the moisture level in the soil might have changed. Or the funeral homes got better at selling varnished coffins instead of pine boxes.

And at selling embalming as a standard and expected part of the process. For the UK at least: - Varnished coffins are usually very thin veneer on top of mainly particle board - the glue is as problematic as any varnish, and add pollution to cremation. US coffins are commonly steel(!) apparently. "Brass" fittings are usually plastic, and not removed before cremation as you might expect. - Embalming is so much an expec…

Burial in a wicker coffin in a forest somewhere has always appealed more to me than all these chemicals. I want to feed worms and trees after I die, not pollute the earth even more.
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