and how do you think this will take?
2006-09-07 00:39:56 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Health ➔ Dental
It's interesting because nature DID evolve to cope with rotting teeth.
It developed the wisdom tooth.
My dentist told me that wisdom teeth were evolving to push out rotting teeth as the grew and the would have formed a second chewing surface after our adult teeth rotted away. That is why they start pushing through later in life.
We've confused evolution by brushing and flossing.. haha.
2006-09-07 00:52:04 · answer #1 · answered by quay_grl 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It is not the sugar that is the problem it is the waste products of the bacteria that live on the sugar.
The waste products include some fairly corrosive acids.
Teeth are already the hardest part of the human body, they resist burning and decomposition far better than bone for example.
They have evolved to be hard enough to chew and bite with, it is only the high sugar diet of the Western World that causes problems.
Perhaps we should try and change our diets rather than our teeth!
2006-09-07 09:19:59 · answer #2 · answered by bobbi b 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Bobbi b is right, it's not just sugar that causes decay. There are many factors involved. Whenever we eat something our pH in our mouths drop from 6.5 to 4.5. This lasts for 20 minutes. In that time our mouths are more prone to produce acid producing bacteria. The acid is what actually starts to soften up the enamel, which leads to decay. This is just a theory, Miller's Theory. There is no concrete answer to tell you how tooth decay forms, nothing has been 100% proven and not everyone agrees to this theory.
2006-09-07 14:40:11 · answer #3 · answered by DrDOA 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Evolution does not take place and the rate of increase in sugar consumption would make it hard for teeth to keep up.
2006-09-07 08:46:30 · answer #4 · answered by Buzz s 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, because we have the ability to take such good care of our teeth in spite of the damage from sugar, that there is no real evolutionary advantage in having sugar-proof teeth.
2006-09-07 07:46:09 · answer #5 · answered by smurfette 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nope. There is no real selective advantage to having teeth that resist decay, because dentists can fix them.
2006-09-07 19:39:04 · answer #6 · answered by Picture Taker 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mmmm
This is only likely if it affects our reproductive ability.
Any "unhealty" trait or condition that does not affect this is not going to have any real selection or de-selection pressure in the long term.
..
2006-09-07 07:44:03 · answer #7 · answered by Andy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No...we will evolve to die younger. That way our teeth will remain good all our life.
2006-09-07 07:45:31 · answer #8 · answered by rumplestiltskin12357 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think all our teeth will recede until there is only a bony palate.
Most of our food is cooked or well processed, you don't really need teeth at all, these days.
2006-09-07 07:46:01 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
I doubt it. evolution is the product of the survival of the fittest. and as people don't die from having no teeth our evolution has stopped
2006-09-07 07:42:48 · answer #10 · answered by jmather62 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋