Teeth are ancient hard bits rooted in jaws and a big part of our evolutionary development as vertebrates. Vertebrates originated some 518 million years ago during the Cambrian explosion. A hundred and fifty million years into the vertebrate evolutionary development we start to see jaws and teeth. These are the things which allow them to invade the land and begin chowing down on other creatures and life forms. Human beings have evolved as primates and it is our predatory nature which has allowed us to reach the pinnacle as an apex predator.

“Back-boned animals (vertebrates) first evolved about 500 million years ago as simple jawless, boneless, finless kinds of fishes. Throughout the early evolution of fishes we see the development and acquisition of major anatomical structures that set up the basic body plan for all future lineages of vertebrates, such as jaws, teeth, limbs, well-developed spine, and so forth. Within the first 150 million years of vertebrate evolution we see fishes acquire all of these features, and develop the necessary structures and behaviours for the invasion of land as tetrapods.”
– Flinders University Palaeontology

Ancient Teeth & Jaws Snapping At Phantom Prey

Nothing stays the same for long in the evolutionary puzzle and we are not using our jaws and teeth to rip apart flesh so much these days. Will teeth remain a thing or will ultra-processed foods render them obsolete? Our environmental inputs have changed and supermarkets have replaced hunting and foraging grounds. Already, some people are no longer getting third molars or wisdom teeth. Our jaws are no longer large enough for them and they are surplus to our requirements. Teeth and jaws are really ancient parts of us. If you have ever seen the roots of a molar removed from your jaw you will know what I mean.

Hard Bits Living In A Soft Modern World

Modern human beings are eating a very different diet from our prehistoric evolutionary times. Millions of years have gone by in deep time, which is impossible for us to grasp in any meaningful manner. Dentists work with our roots in the teeth and jaw. They have to drill into very hard surfaces like miners in some way. Peering into dark holes in search of stuff. Fixing teeth and filling cavities. Working with unyielding matter. It can be a hard days work for our dentists. Sometimes I do not think folk realise how tough these vertebrate features like teeth and jaws really are.

Use Them Or Lose Them

Fast foods and processed foods are soft and squishy in character most generally. Once you get beyond the packaging there is not much to this fare. Lots of sugar, salt, and processed carbohydrates. The jaw and teeth of a hunter are superfluous to the soft and mushy nature of the modern human diet. Will teeth become a thing of the past? Perhaps just for show, bleached white but with no real ability to bite? Will dentists become entirely cosmetic technicians making obsolete teeth white and pretty to look at?

Soft Diets Determining Factor In Changing Face Of Humanity

It is not only genetics that determine the development of our teeth and jaws. Environmental factors like diet play their part in how we grow and develop. Our jaws are shrinking in response to our modern soft diets of cooked foods. The lack of chewy and tough foods in our diet is making our jaws somewhat superfluous to requirements. Malocclusion problems are manifesting as a result of this. Wisdom teeth are generally removed because there isn’t the space for them and some folk are not getting their third molars at all. Studies into the effects of soft diets and how they can produce abnormalities in the development of dental arches are revealing the influence of diet on our teeth and jaws.

Braces Needed Because Of Diets Containing Too Much Bread

“Teenagers facing the purgatory of braces to fix their misaligned teeth might be able to blame bread for their predicament. Noreen von Cramon-Taubadel at the University of Kent, UK, measured the shape of 295 human lower jaws from museum specimens. Those that came from agricultural societies were smaller, on average, than those that came from hunter-gatherer societies – although all carried the same number of teeth.
The differences persisted even after she accounted for the effects of climate, geography and random genetic variation. “Our mouths are now slightly too short for the amount of teeth we have,” she says. The likeliest explanation is that agricultural diets, which contain large amounts of ground grains, tend to be softer and easier to chew than the wild plant and meat-rich diets of hunter-gatherers. Indeed, animal experiments have shown that the lower jaw grows more slowly in individuals fed a softer diet (Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.7123221).”
– New Scientist

Teeth Are Difficult Things From Another Time

Will teeth remain a thing or will ultra-processed food render them obsolete? The longer we live the more we may consider our teeth difficult and expensive things to maintain. These throwbacks to another primitive age are maintained by expensive technicians using costly materials called dentists. Dentists train to be good at their profession and wish to be well rewarded for their work. At the same time we live in a world where large corporations make their billions of dollars manufacturing and selling foods and drinks which contain too much sugar and other substances which are bad for your teeth. Teeth were not made to deal with such artificial substances. I cannot see teeth hanging around for too much longer in this unsuitable environment for their purpose. Look at how they are being covered up via metal grills by celebrity popstars as a fashion statement. Surely, this is the writing on the wall for teeth. People want perfect white teeth for show and not so much for what they can do in this day and age. Dentists are rapidly moving their business toward the cosmetic side of things in this regard.

Will Teeth remain a thing or will Ultra-Processed Foods render them Obsolete?

Say goodbye to teeth and wish them well for all they have done for us over the eons. It hasn’t always been the easiest of relationships. Just ask any dentist! Tooth ache has caused a lot of pain for a lot of folk over the distance. However, now that we are not ripping out the hearts of deer for lunch we may not require the services of these hardy bits of enamel for much longer. Two minute noodles and cheeseburgers are calling to us like sirens from the sea. Yoghurt is waving to us from every refrigerated shelf in the supermarket. You don’t need teeth for these treats. No Siree! Soft foods are the modern fruits of our world.

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