# Anyone else not have wisdom teeth? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 24, 2007, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-have-wisdom-teeth/397290 "2007-03-24T05:10:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-have-wisdom-teeth/397290/21 "2007-03-25T06:25:55Z")
I honestly have no idea. All I know is that I’ve never had any wisdom teeth removed. ---
**Author:** ![Arrimus\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f08c70/32.png) [@Arrimus\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrimus_2)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-have-wisdom-teeth/397290/22 "2007-03-25T16:23:58Z")
I have _a_ wisdom tooth. On the left side. It started several years ago. Dentist thought it should be removed before becoming a nuissance. He didn’t. Hasn’t caused any problems since (except occassional aches, but those went away when the tooth fully formed). ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-have-wisdom-teeth/397290/23 "2007-03-25T16:43:19Z")
I had the standard four, but I had a friend in high school who didn’t have any. And another friend who had six. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-have-wisdom-teeth/397290/24 "2007-03-25T16:57:50Z")
I have none and never did. **pulykamell** , count your teeth. They should normally range between 28 and 32. If you only have 28, you probably have no wisdom teeth. If you have more than 28 you probably have wisdom teeth. I am sure there are a dozen exceptions, but this is a good rule of thumb. Jim ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-have-wisdom-teeth/397290/25 "2007-03-25T17:03:00Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] I have none and never did. **pulykamell** , count your teeth. They should normally range between 28 and 32. If you only have 28, you probably have no wisdom teeth. If you have more than 28 you probably have wisdom teeth. I am sure there are a dozen exceptions, but this is a good rule of thumb. Jim [/QUOTE] I believe I’m counting 14 on the top and bottom (going by feel here), for a grand total of 28. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-have-wisdom-teeth/397290/26 "2007-03-25T20:21:44Z")
[QUOTE=RedRosesForMe] damn, and I thought I was special. But maybe this is a bad sample. maybe we are the next step in human evolution. [/QUOTE] Does that make me some kind of superhuman mutant, then? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![zelie\_zelerton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/59ef9b/32.png) [@zelie\_zelerton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zelie_zelerton)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-have-wisdom-teeth/397290/27 "2007-03-26T01:32:56Z")
None so far but then I still had baby teeth into my early 20s so it’s not inconceivable that I’m just slow at growing teeth and they’ll pop along at some point. I did have tinglings a couple years ago and consulted a dentist but he reckoned there wasn’t anything going on. I got a very tiny lil toothlet up top but it seems to have stopped coming in. On the other side nothing ever erupted. What’s with the evolutionary thing? What advantage would we gain from not having these teeth? Actually, what advantage do we gain from \*having \* them in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-have-wisdom-teeth/397290/28 "2007-03-26T07:58:06Z")
My husband had six! Does this mean he’s _less_ evolved? Come to think of it, he’s awfully hairy, too. Holy crumb! I’m married to the Geico caveman! ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-have-wisdom-teeth/397290/29 "2007-03-26T10:03:02Z")
One of my classmates from High School. He was one of the best students, so most of us make variations on the same joke when we hear about this (sorry): “see, that explains your grades, you’re a more advanced model!” ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-have-wisdom-teeth/397290/30 "2007-03-26T10:08:29Z")
So far, I have only one (I’m 47). I’m also short a couple of incisors (I think). ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-have-wisdom-teeth/397290/31 "2007-03-26T11:54:25Z")
[QUOTE=RedRosesForMe] damn, and I thought I was special. But maybe this is a bad sample. maybe we are the next step in human evolution. [/QUOTE] I don’t have any, and I can read minds. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-have-wisdom-teeth/397290/32 "2007-03-26T14:14:21Z")
I have no wisdom teeth. Never have. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-have-wisdom-teeth/397290/33 "2007-03-27T02:11:33Z")
[QUOTE=zelie zelerton] What’s with the evolutionary thing? What advantage would we gain from not having these teeth? Actually, what advantage do we gain from \*having \* them in the first place? [/QUOTE] They’re mostly just joking. The conventional wisdom ( 😃 ) is that these late-erupting teeth are meant to replace ones you might have lost or worn down by that time. I think the conventional wisdom is probably wrong in this case, given that early hominids and even later modern humans didn’t have cavities very often. Hunter-gatherers had [a very low incidence](http://www.uic.edu/classes/osci/osci590/11_1Epidemiology.htm) of cavities. It isn’t until pretty darn late in our history, when we started farming more, that caries started to be a real problem. In contrast to you deficient people, my toothiness is self-evident. I’ve got all 32 teeth, though the wisdom teeth did push things forward so that two of my teeth top and bottom in the front are slightly crooked now. I’ve also got slight fangs on the bottom because of this. \ ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-have-wisdom-teeth/397290/34 "2007-03-27T02:36:27Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] I only had three. [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=NurseCarmen] me too. [/QUOTE] Me three. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-have-wisdom-teeth/397290.md?page=1)