Wisdom Teeth received their name because they usually come in around the ages between 17 and 25. At this time you have grown to early adulthood and hopefully have more wisdom than a child.
Many other languages call wisdom teeth the equivalent in their language with the same reasoning. Some of these languages include Chinese, Persian, Hebrew, Greek and Portuguese.
Their name in Arabic is very similar to English. They refer to them as Ders-al-a'qe, meaning "the tooth of the mind."
Korean is very different from these two ideas, referring to them as Sa-rang-nee, or love teeth. They earned this name because between ages 17-25 is generally when you have your first love and break up.
In Japanese the name is also very different. They say Oyashiraz, meaning "unknown to the parents," referring to how children move away from their parents around the time that they come in.
In Indonesian, wisdom teeth are referred to as bungsu. This means "youngest child," and refers to the fact that they are the last to come in, and are therefore the youngest teeth.
They are called fan-khut in Thailand, which means "huddling tooth." This is due to the fact that wisdom teeth usually do not have enough room to grow, so they 'huddle' in the back of the mouth.
Spanish and Italian are also fairly similar to English, calling them "molars of judgment." The Spanish words are muelas de juicio while the Italian words are dentes del giudizio.
Maltese sometimes refers to them as darsa ta' which means "the molar that joins." This probably is talking about how they are the last set of teeth to come in, and therefore complete the mouth.
No matter what they are referred to as, people generally have about four of them. However, it is possible to receive more or less than four.
When fewer than four teeth come in it is called Hypdontia. Technically, Hypodontia refers to missing the wisdom teeth and up to six more.
If you are missing your wisdom teeth, it is usually because they simply failed to develop. You are lucky because you will not have to have them removed.
Not having your wisdom teeth is alright because humans are continuing to evolve. We are no longer using them and getting rid of them, so an increasing number of people are being born without them. About 9-30% of the population tends to have fewer than the normal amount of wisdom teeth.
On the other hand, having an extra tooth or two develop is referred to as Supernumerary teeth. In this case, you will usually have to have them removed because the mouth is too small to accommodate.
Most of the time, dentists advise people to have them removed because they affect the teeth around them through impaction and by coming in sideways.
Impaction happens because there is a lack of space in the mouth. As the tooth comes in, it is pushing against gum, bone, or another tooth and fighting for space.
When this happens, the tooth usually does not come in straight. If the tooth comes in angled backward, it is called distoangular impaction.
If it comes in slanted forward then it is called mesioangular impaction. This is the most common type of impaction and occurs in about 44% of the general population.
If the tooth is slanted so far forward that it hits the 90 degree angle, it is referred to as horizontal impaction. This is the least common form of impaction.
The last type of impaction is where the tooth does not break the gum line. This is called vertical impaction.
Impaction does not only affect the wisdom teeth. It can also affect the rest of the mouth through infection and movement of the rest of the teeth.
If allowed to go on too long, orthodontics may be required to fix the teeth for a straight smile. In addition, the longer you wait to have removed, the larger they will be and the more painful the process is.
Author Resource:-
Ronald Pedactor is a former dental assistant and has authored hundreds of articles relating to oral health. He worked for a cosmetic dentist in South Carolina before becoming a guest dental lecturer for the past 15 years.
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.massagebyben.com/articles/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites 