If you have ever wondered why your extra set of back molars are called “wisdom teeth,” it is not because they grant you any sort of extra intelligence. They are nicknamed such simply because they tend to erupt much later than your other adult teeth—between the ages of 17 & 25—when you are (theoretically) a bit wiser than when your baby teeth got replaced.
Ancient Chompers
Back in the days of our ancestors, chewing was a much more strenuous activity. With diets that included raw roots, uncooked meat & tough fibrous plants, our ancestors needed a third set of molars (our “wisdom teeth”) to provide extra grinding power in breaking down the food.
However, with the invention of cooking & food processing, humans shifted from a harsh, uncooked diet to softer, cooked & processed food, making chewing & digesting much easier. With cooking & food prep taking on the brunt of the labor, we no longer needed the power of extra molars & massive jaws. As a result, our jawbones evolved to gradually shrink, but the number & size of our teeth did not, leading to a common modern problem: not enough room for wisdom teeth to grow in properly.
Controlling the Crowd
Because our jaws have evolved to become smaller, it is a gamble per individual how well their wisdom teeth will fare. For a lucky some, their wisdom teeth arrive without issue, lining up nicely with the rest of their teeth. For many others, however, wisdom teeth may show up sideways, partially erupted, or trapped next to the other teeth.
When a wisdom tooth does not have enough room to emerge, it becomes impacted, leading to pain, swelling, infection or damage to neighboring teeth. As a result, many dentists typically recommend removal to minimize complications.
Modern Day Status
In today’s world, wisdom teeth have become what evolutionary biology calls a “vestigial structure”—something that had a purpose with our ancestors but has since lost its original purpose. Other examples include our appendix & tailbone.
Still, not everyone gets all four wisdom teeth. In what is known as “third molar agenesis,” a growing number of people never develop one or more of their wisdom teeth. In some populations, up to 40% of people are missing at least one wisdom tooth—suggesting that evolution may finally be slowly phasing out third molars in humans.
Sources
https://www.healthline.com/health/why-do-we-have-wisdom-teeth
https://gna.it.com/wisdom-teeth-evolution?
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/22119-wisdom-teeth-removal
https://biologyinsights.com/where-did-wisdom-teeth-come-from-and-why-do-we-have-them/