I have been sufferring from this twinge at the back of my jaw these past few days, and it now looks like the cause is the appearance of one of my wisdom teeth. This phrase, "Wisdom tooth", is something I can remember hearing since my mid-teens, but it was never quite clear to me what it referred to. Even after looking it up and discovering that these are teeth that suddenly decide to grow their way out of our gums when we are in our late-teens to mid-twenties, I never really took in their full implication. Of course now that mine are finally deciding to put in an appearance - almost 5 years later than the books say - I have to admit that there is nothing else on my mind.
The curious scientist in me wants to know, what quirk of human evolution left us with this late (and apparently sometimes very painful) growth spurt? Do wisdom teeth have a purpose? And if they are supposed to show up by the time you are 25 - who the *%$$ thought of calling them "wisdom" teeth?? I mean, I think most people beyond their 30s would have serious reservations when attaching the label "wise", to the average 25 year-old :-) Actually, I expect most 25-year olds wouldn't describe themselves as wise either! Whilst Google provides a wealth of clinical information about wisdom teeth and advice on whether they should be removed or not (I never knew dentists were so web savvy), there are no quick answers to my more important questions. My semi-serious theory is that wisdom teeth arrive around about the time that most people have their first kids, so that parents and baby can have a shared teething experience :-)
Anyway, since my "wisdom" teeth have decided to take so long to put in an appearance, I can only hope that this is the reason that I haven't felt particularly wise thus far in my life. And now that the teeth are here, I can only hope that I will feel the rush of wisdom soon. Does anyone know what the time lag is between the teeth and the wisdom ?!?! ;-)
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