The Psychology Of Wisdom Teeth

The way our bodies work speaks volumes about how we think and see ourselves, and each body part, vestigial or otherwise has something to teach us about ourselves. The wisdom teeth are no different, and how they erupt will have an effect on the mental state of the patient. Here is what the wisdom teeth tell us about us.

The Human Psyche Reflected

The way a person thinks is different at different times during life. This is partially due to gaining experience and wisdom, but it is also because the human mind goes through different developmental stages. These stages are reflected in all aspects of life, including dentition. At first the human mind is always playing and experiencing new things, and this is a time for milk teeth, which have shallow roots, are deciduous, and are easily replaced. While the mind is still getting to know the world, the teeth are also not permanent, and as the child makes up his or her mind about certain things, the teeth start to fall out, to be replaced by more serious, more permanent teeth and ideas. This happens until the child is around 11-12, when the second set of molars breaks through, which is usually when puberty also starts. Afterwards, the wisdom teeth erupt into a mouth that is basically done growing, and thus is adulthood; it breaks into a world we have made up and changes everything about it. These changes can be very complicated and painful, and may need the intervention of a specialist in order to go smoothly.

Psychological connections

Wisdom teeth, just like our neuroses, can be impacted deeply and can refuse to budge, ruining other teeth around it. They can grow onto other teeth, just like our minds can be dependent on people, substances or other paraphernalia to function properly, and this will always cause the destruction of one or more teeth, and requires intervention, and usually an extraction. Wisdom teeth, just like the human mind, can start to decay if neglected, and their position all the way in the back means that they are hard to get to, and are much more prone to decay than other teeth.

Extraction of the wisdom teeth

Many lucky people are born without wisdom teeth at all, and their number is growing. This is how natural selection weeds out vestigial traits, and will eventually produce a race of humans that simply do not have wisdom teeth. But for those of us that do have them, I am very pleased to say that getting wisdom teeth removed has absolutely no effect on the human psyche, while having bad, rotten or painful teeth does; it causes anxiety, dental phobias and a lack of confidence. If your wisdom teeth are bothering you, go and see a dentist, and you will see how great it feels to be able to smile with confidence again!