Many of us find ourselves in the dentist chair getting ready to have our wisdom teeth pulled out with a lot of questions still unanswered. Why do we have these unwanted teeth? Why do I have to have them pulled out? How much is this going to hurt? Your dentist will answer most of your questions for you, but there’s still a lot about these teeth that you still might not know. Here’s everything you need to know about wisdom teeth, or “love teeth” in Korean.

They Can Be Problematic

These teeth are way in the back of your mouth. This makes them much harder to clean than your other teeth. Since these teeth are hard to clean, it can create serious dental problems. Bacteria can grow and cause decay. This decay could spread to other teeth as well.

These teeth may also come in differently than the other teeth. Sometimes, they may even come in at an odd angel, forcing other teeth to become affected.

Since these problems occur with most people who have them, about 85% of people who have these teeth are recommended to have them removed.

Most of the time people will learn if they need to have their love teeth removed when they visit the dentist. However, you may realize it on your own because of pain.

Not Everyone Gets Them

You may think that everyone is born with the exact same amount of teeth, but that’s not the case. In fact, 35% of people don’t get even one wisdom tooth. Other people may one get one, two, or three. However, most people have four. The more, the more likely of a problem. In some very rare cases, people have been born with even more than four.

Sign of Evolution

We as humans might actually be evolving into a species without these teeth. Years ago, humans had up to twelve of these teeth. This was necessary for primal life, eating hunks of raw meat. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, human brains grew at an accelerated pace. It grew so big that it started to take up a lot more space in our skull. This caused the skull to reshape, forcing the space for our teeth to become limited. That’s why there is not usually enough room in the mouth for these teeth anymore. As we continue to evolve as a species, it is likely that more and more people will e born without these teeth.

They Are Used In Stem Cell Research

Many people think that these teeth are useless, but that’s simply not the case. People have started to use the love teeth in stem cell research after they are removed. It turns out that they may be able to help restore tissue that has been damaged or destroyed. The research is very new, but there seems to be progress. Studies have specifically focused on optical and neurological improvement.

You Can Get Them At Any Time

Most people get their love teeth while they are young. They are typically fully developed when we are teenagers. However, this isn’t always the case. In fact, there is an instance of a person not getting these teeth until they were 94. While this is rare, it is possible for people to develop these teeth at any point throughout our life.

Most of us are born with wisdom teeth, but we probably don’t need or want them. Luckily, dentistry has come a long way. Dentists are able to remove these teeth for us easily. It’s still interesting to learn about these teeth and what they tell us about us as human beings.