2006-08-07 00:58:54 · 6 answers · asked by daniel g 1 in Health ➔ Dental
They are generally thought to be called "wisdom teeth" because they appear so late—much later than the other teeth, at an age where people are supposedly wiser than as a child, when the other teeth erupt.
Alternatively it may be that the term derives from a mistranslation of the corresponding term in Dutch in which language they are called 'verstandskiezen', literally 'far-standing-molars' referring to the fact that they are located at the back of the mouth. In Dutch such compound words are contracted (written without the spaces) leaving the first part of the word as 'verstand' which can correctly be translated as 'wisdom' in English.
2006-08-07 01:03:31 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Wisdom teeth typically grow in while we are between the ages of 16 and 20, after the tooth fairy has exchanged our baby teeth for our permanent ones and our first and second molars have developed. It is also at this age that we pass into adulthood, or into what some people call the "age of budding wisdom." Since the third molars appear at this age, they are known as wisdom teeth.
http://www.soundmedicine.iu.edu/segment.php4?seg=355
2006-08-07 08:12:25 · answer #2 · answered by Nikki 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because they usually come in around the age you should have more wisdom like between 12-16!
2006-08-07 08:04:03 · answer #3 · answered by Cherokee 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because you get them in your late teens / early twenties. Apparently, by then we are supposed to be wise.
2006-08-07 08:02:37 · answer #4 · answered by Thomas V 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Good one, hillbilly.
2006-08-07 08:03:31 · answer #5 · answered by Pronkville 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
because the roots are so big they nearly touch your brain!!!!!! aggh!!!
2006-08-07 08:04:03 · answer #6 · answered by matts_wife 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋