Dentist Office in Indianapolis give an overview of Wisdom Teeth

Good news! People are capable of getting three ‘sets’ of teeth in a lifetime: ‘Baby’ teeth usually begin to erupt through the gums at six months and are fully part of a child’s mouth by two or three years of age. The adult permanent teeth, on the other hand, begin pushing out the young molars about six to seven years of age with full ‘adult’ permanent teeth in the mouth by 12 years of age. Then, believe it or not, at about age 17 until age 25 years there can come a third set of molars called wisdom teeth. The number of wisdom teeth that can come in can range from one to four. Then, there are some of us who never get wisdom teeth. (not an indication of lack of wisdom.)

An Overview of Wisdom Teeth

The ‘wisdom’ of wisdom teeth goes back to the days when the diet of mankind involved not burgers, fries or ‘processed’ soft foods but consisted on the chewing of leaves, plant roots, and raw meat. Third molars were permitted to come to be when the teeth were lost or worn down by such a rough diet.

This third set of molars was possible because of a larger jaw size in the prehistoric species of mankind. With evolution, there also came difficulties with this ‘wise’ third set of teeth. The jawline naturally became smaller and these wisdom teeth do not always come in aligned, as they should. They come in sideways or crowd the other healthy teeth that still are in place due to man’s modern diet of cooked and softer foods and eating with fork and knife rather than biting into hunks of raw meat.

In some cases, wisdom teeth cannot erupt at all and remain impacted under the gum line! Impacted wisdom teeth bring the possibility of infections under the gum line, damage to other teeth, and damage to bones in the mouth. Additionally, wisdom teeth are set back in the mouth where toothbrush does not reach and can become a breeding ground for plaque producing decay that can spread to other teeth. It is wise to have such wisdom teeth removed by your dentist Office in Indianapolis.

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Westside Family Dental

4318 W. Washington St.

Indianapolis IN 46241

Phone: (317) 241-9876

URL: westindydental.com

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