What are Wisdom Teeth? Purpose, Symptoms & When They Come In

Below is an excerpt from an article found on Crest.com

Wisdom teeth grow in at the back of the mouth, behind your molars. There is a set on the bottom as well as the top. Wisdom teeth often grow in crooked, sideways, or otherwise misaligned. As they grow in, they can push on other teeth, causing problems of overcrowding and misalignment for them as well.

Function and Purpose of Wisdom Teeth
Wisdom teeth are believed to be "evolutionary relics," and were helpful to our distant ancestors who ate diets that consisted of rougher foods like sticks and reed plants. As teeth wore down or fell out, wisdom teeth provided replacements. Nowadays, with modern advancements in oral hygiene and softer diets, we don’t need these replacement teeth, but they still grow in. Essentially, our mouths can hold 28 teeth, but including wisdom teeth, we have about 32 teeth all vying for space. Wisdom teeth symptoms such as overcrowding, bone and nerve damage, infection, etc. can all result.

To read the entire article visit Crest.com.

The remainder of the article details the following:

• Wisdom Teeth Symptoms
• Wisdom Teeth Treatment
• Questions Related to Wisdom Teeth

Hicks Family Dentistry   
Kevin Hicks, DDS 
756 Lititz Pike
Lititz, PA 17543 
(717) 625-0596 
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