Wisdom's Coming

Hippocrates: sophronisteres
Greek: sophron
Rome: dentes sapientiae
Arabic: Ders-al-a'qel
Dutch: verstandskies
Spanish: muelo de juicio
English: wisdom teeth

Whatever you want to call them. I'm still terribly queasy about this. But I have to admit,I felt a little proud of myself when I felt it coming.

It has been around two days from now since my upper right third molar decided that it's time to attack and bombard my poor gums. Equipped with only his root and crown, it is now pushing his way up bit by bit. I'm feeling a mixture of pride and fright as I scan the net and read more of this wisdom teeth. Ever since I was a child, I have already known about this third molar. But never have my child mind ever answered why this set of particular teeth are called wisdom teeth. Well, I guessed this is my answer.

They are called wisdom teeth because of the time they appear. Usually in the late teens or early twenties (ages 16-25 years old). This would have been the time when people are supposed to gain more wisdom in life. Eventually, there are also theories of evolution about wisdom teeth that have been formed since ancient times. It was said that tooth loss was common in early times because of rot or trauma. When people enter their early twenties, they had already lost a tooth or two. The wisdom teeth then, would help make up for the empty spaces. There's another theory stating that in the past, human jaw was significantly larger. So there was enough room for the wisdom teeth to grow in. As our diet shifted, our jaws shrank, but wisdom teeth continued to form. (wiseGEEK,http://www.wisegeek.com/why-are-the-back-teeth-called-wisdom-teeth.htm)


All I'm doing now is to hope and pray that my little wisdom tooth won't give me any problems and by that I mean painless and gum-line-mess-up-less.



A day in my life.




Stranger Passing-By                                                                                                      SP-B/03/13/12