
Could genetics or environmental factors have played a role in people having crooked teeth? Studying human skulls could help reveal the answers.
Key takeaways:
- People from distant ages did not have dental problems. These people had straight and symmetrical teeth as evidence from fossils and skeletons indicates.
- There is no proper answer why people have crooked teeth despite millions of dollars used on retainers and braces in an attempt to get a perfect smile.
- Some significant change must have happened during the Industrial revolution marked by a shift to urban lifestyles. People now have narrower mouths.
Mouths are narrower today, Monge says, but we have the same number of teeth as always. And so the idea goes: that causes crowding, an overbite, snaggle teeth or wisdom teeth that have no room to grow in.
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