> We have very few teeth from this period in Africa. We don’t know if this is unusual or not, Alternative view, cavities were common and the teeth were removed / fell out.
The epitome of survivorship bias
Why didn't our ancient ancestors get cavities?
71–80 of 207 posts
Re: Why didn't our ancient ancestors get cavities?
#72Although this wouldn't apply to ancient humans, I have heard the hypothesis that many people in olden times didn't have as many problems with cavities because many people drank well water. And well water has naturally occurring fluoride.
Couldn't we test this hypothesis by checking the teeth of people living non-modern lifestyles?
Do tribal people around the world living traditionally have cavities or not? What is the quality of their teeth?
Re: Why didn't our ancient ancestors get cavities?
#73The fact that we have "wisdom teeth" seems to indicate that ancient humans did, in fact, get cavities and lose teeth to them.
I don't think an extra molar at age 16 is going to let you survive after all your other teeth have fallen out. I would guess the wisdom teeth are either waiting for your jaw to mature or are in the process of devolving to never erupt at all.
That's not really how evolution works. There's no reason that modern humans would ever lose wisdom teeth unless NOT having them led to some evident increase in ability to produce healthy children in abundance.
With the advent of dental care, that seems unlikely to ever happen by evolution.
Re: Why didn't our ancient ancestors get cavities?
#74Weston A Price is really the go-to for the early research in nutrition and dentistry. His book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration was making the rounds back when Nourishing Traditions became popular. Price, conclusively in my mind, showed that the moment the modern western was introduced into cultures who ate traditional foods, the next generation had terrible teeth, jaws that were too small for all their teeth, etc. Pretty great, if terrible findings, stuff. The typical western diet is a shit show, imo
Re: Why didn't our ancient ancestors get cavities?
#75genes probably. I’m mid 30s and have never had a cavity. I go to the dentist every 6months. I also have a huge sweet tooth.
FWIW, dental health outcomes for visiting dentist yearly instead of every 6 months are apparently identical. Downvoters, have a link to an article discussing some studies: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20140926-how-often-must-w...
I haven't been to one in 25 years.
I probally pushing my luck?
Have all my teeth. Three cavities. My gums don't bleed when flossing. When brushing I concentrate on the gums.
Use a Sonic toothbrush daily.
Have a neurotic habit of using tooth picks.
(I knew the dentist who developed the plastic tooth picks with floss. I couldn't stand family. Why? Because he was a rich dentist who set all his kids up for life, but couldn't pay his workers a decent wage. He did offer free dental though? His spoiled boy had a 50' racing racing sloop in high school. I am also jealous too.)
I don't like food in my teeth. I usually have a tooth pick within reach at all times.
I am not a fan of sweets though, but put a lot of sugar in my coffee.
Teeth, and gums, are very much prone to the placebo effect. Every study dentists do require a control group, and placebo controls.
Re: Why didn't our ancient ancestors get cavities?
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
No. Saliva regrows enamel.
"The Verdict: You can do a lot to protect and strengthen your tooth enamel, but once it has eroded, it’s gone, baby, gone!" Says webmd. https://www.webmd.com/oral-health/features/can-tooth-enamel-...
Webmd is an awful reference
Re: Why didn't our ancient ancestors get cavities?
#77That’s easy. Sugar.
It's not just sugar - any carbohydrate which a bacterium can easily metabolize to sugar (i.e. most of them) is a hazard. Grains, tubers, etc. are all dangerous from a dental perspective and have only been consumed in calorically significant quantities after the advent of agriculture.
You're correct that any carbs can help form plaque, but humans have been getting significant numbers of calories from them since before we were H. sapiens.
Re: Why didn't our ancient ancestors get cavities?
#78genes probably. I’m mid 30s and have never had a cavity. I go to the dentist every 6months. I also have a huge sweet tooth.
FWIW, dental health outcomes for visiting dentist yearly instead of every 6 months are apparently identical. Downvoters, have a link to an article discussing some studies: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20140926-how-often-must-w...
FWIW, my cleanings go a lot better if I visit every 4 months than every 6 months, so there's no way I'd consider 6 months. I could certainly have better oral hygiene, but visiting the dentist 3 times a year isn't terrible.
Re: Why didn't our ancient ancestors get cavities?
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
"The Verdict: You can do a lot to protect and strengthen your tooth enamel, but once it has eroded, it’s gone, baby, gone!" Says webmd. https://www.webmd.com/oral-health/features/can-tooth-enamel-...
Webmd is an awful reference
Many results under webmd were the same. They know SEO unfortunately.
Re: Why didn't our ancient ancestors get cavities?
#80My grandmother chewed betel leaves with a small amount of tobacco, betel nuts, lime (calcium hydroxide aka chuna/chun), multiple times a day all her life. Her other diet consisted of tea just as many times per day, and for actual food a diet of rice, fish, and vegetables. For the majority of her life I don't think she actually had access to fluoridated toothpaste and probably used neem twigs or even charcoal at times…
Interesting. My Indian grandparents and g-grandparents appeared to have most or all of their teeth, and were a long lived bunch (all but one into their 90s). I can’t say conclusively all but I never noticed any gaps or problems, which is the kind of thing kids notice. The g-grandparents would all have been born in the 19th century.
My Australian grandmother had all her teeth pulled out when she was 12 and wore artificial teeth for the next 75 years.