Leftovers from Evolution

Your body is full of parts whose original job has faded or changed. Wisdom teeth are a perfect example. Our ancestors had big jaws and a tough, raw diet that demanded a full third set of molars to grind through plants, nuts, and uncooked meat.

Then we learned to cook. Soft, cooked food asks less of the jaw, and over thousands of generations human jaws got smaller. The genetic instructions for that third set of molars still fire, but now they push teeth into a jaw with no room left. The result is the crowding, pain, and surgery so many people know firsthand.