Bubba

I have a question on "design flaws in nature" and I'm not sure that your the one to ask but here goes. I told my wife that I thought that people end up wearing braces on their teeth because the jawbone was too small to accomodate all of the teeth. I pointed out the progression of hominid evolution and how jawbones were getting smaller over time. She says that people end up wearing braces due to diet. She pointed out that people in other cultures with other diets (especially African) seldom need braces.

Am I right?? Is the modern Jawbone an evidence of imperfect design?? Or doesn't this meet the crieteria?

Bubba

trunks2k

I'm not much of an expert or anything but I'm very sure that our jawbones are definatly too small for all our teeth. I'm reather sure that is the reason for people needing braces. But the fact that most people have to get their wisdom teeth pulled is a very good indication of a small jaw bone.

Oolon Colluphid

In a word, Bubba, yes. You’re right. People who need braces do so because the human jaw is too small to accommodate all our teeth. As the wisdom teeth come through, they push all the others forward. Having braces is frequently accompanied by extraction of the first molars to create a gap for them to move into. Often, too, the wisdom teeth themselves are extracted. If we were designed, it is odd that we were designed with too many teeth.

Does your wife have evidence that Africans don't need (would not need, if available) braces? Not that I’ve paid that much attention, but I've often seen native people on TV with mouths full of an orthodontist’s nightmare (or dream ) -- incisors in all sorts of snaggles and odd angles. I'm unclear as to how diet would cause teeth to become overcrowded

Oolon

liquid

2 points:

1) A survey of the number of africans that wear braces would be very misleading. They don't have nearly the same access to orthodontic treatment. Nor would the clinical need for the treatment be at such a low threshold as it is in the west - they cannot afford it.

2) Whilst braces are generally needed because of a small jaw, it is important to state there are other reasons (For instance, when a milk tooth has attached itself to the jaw bone and prevents the adult from coming through).

Diet probably does have an influence on tooth developement, the case of fluoride is enough to show that, but in the case of tooth development it is not nearly as important as what it can do to the teeth themselves. Your wife might be confusing the western tooth decay problem with the prevalence of braces. By and large they are seperate.