Things You Never Knew about Wisdom Teeth

Maybe your wisdom teeth are coming in, or maybe you’ve already been through the process of wisdom tooth extraction– but either way, there are probably some interesting facts about wisdom teeth you never knew! We’ll explore a few of the most entertaining, for kicks.

1) Number of Wisdom Teeth Varies Person To Person

As strange as it may be, the number of wisdom teeth each person has varies. Some folks have all four, and some have none at all. Most often, adults have four wisdom teeth, one in each quadrant of the mouth, but in some rare cases, people even have more than four. In the case of Hyperdontia, the human mouth can host supernumerary teeth, or teeth that exist in addition to the regular line up. (Do not Google this if you’re squeamish.)

If your wisdom teeth are coming in, there are a few things you should know about them!

2) Number of Roots the Teeth Have Varies

Another thing that varies case to case is the number of roots each wisdom tooth has. Just like a fingerprint, everyone’s teeth are unique. Though wisdom teeth generally have two or three roots, they can have more. The roots of the teeth form first, then pushing the bud of each tooth through the gums as they erupt. Some wisdom teeth have as many as five roots.

3) Wisdom Teeth Can Come In Any Time

Though most people’s wisdom teeth come in around their late teens or early twenties, these crazy little third-molars can actually make their appearance at any time. In some cases, the wisdom teeth are impacted, or they don’t grow in at all, but you’ll still want to discuss removal with your dentist, even so. According to the Guinness World Records, the oldest person to grow a wisdom tooth was almost 95 years old! His record-shattering tooth was detected during a regular dental exam.

4) They’re Called “Love Teeth” In Korean

Fun fact: the Korean word for wisdom teeth translates more closely to “love teeth.” The reason for this is that by the time your wisdom teeth emerge, you are likely to have experienced your first crush or your first love. Kinda precious, right? We certainly think so.

5) Wisdom Teeth Don’t Serve Any Purpose

It’s interesting that our wisdom teeth don’t serve a purpose anymore, and haven’t for thousands and thousands of years. Our ancestors ate raw meat, roots and other foraged foods, and they needed the wisdom teeth to adequately masticate the types of things that comprised their diets. These teeth aren’t just pointless though, they are also pretty precarious. They have the potential to cause a lot of pain and ongoing damage if left neglected. If you haven’t had your wisdom teeth examined or extracted, you ought to consider a conversation about it. Feel free to reach out to us at Ocoee Oral Surgery with any concerns or questions you may have. We are the Chattanooga area wisdom teeth experts.