I was at the dentist today for my routine checkup, and they gave me my every-five year round-the-head X-ray (no cavities.) While looking at the picture, the hygienist commented that I’d had my wisdom teeth out. I told her that I’d just never had any to begin with.
She then went on a spiel while cleaning my teeth about how she never had any either, and how we were a rare breed. Then she went on to warn me about how my lack of wisdom teeth was very likely to translate into lack of second molars and bicuspids for my children; and she should know because two of her three children are missing some.
I couldn’t get a word in edgewise because of the pick in my mouth.
I don’t guess there’s much I could do about this if it’s true, short of not reproducing. Honestly, though, it sounds like BS to me – I’ve never heard of such a thing. And my searches have led to tons of orthodonics and oral surgery pages but none are remotely close to addressing this question.
So, anyone with actual dental knowledge – is she on to something, or is this just a load of bull?
I’ve never had any wisdom teeth either. I have three kids and they have all the teeth they are supposed to have and fortunately they all have strong, healthy teeth too.
I found a few sites, like this one by searching for congenitally absent teeth.
To summarize what that site says, she was exaggerating so much that, in the absence of a family history you really shouldn’t worry about it. It’s true that if you have missing wisdom teeth, you are at an increased (though still small) risk of having other teeth develop wrong or fail to develop, but even if your wisdom teeth are missing for genetic reasons, it’s far from “very likely” that your children will have other teeth missing. There are a lot of people out there with missing wisdom teeth, and they don’t all have kids with other teeth missing.
Sometimes missing teeth can be a dominant trait, but it can also be recessive or polygenic. If you have a dominant gene that caused your wisdom teeth not to develop, then some other people in your family must have it, too. If you don’t have any relatives with congenitally missing teeth you should forget about it.
Get this… I have three wisdom teeth. The fourth one never formed. My dentist had seen a number of absent teeth cases and was of the opinion that people were evolving fewer teeth, now that they didn’t have to chaw on raw meat any more.
FWIW, my wife and I both have (or had) all four wisdom teeth. Our first child is missing one of her primary (baby) second molars. According to the site linked by Bob Scene, it appears unlikely that her permanent second molar will come in behind it.
Our second child is missing a primary incisor, but not congentially, just from being a boy (he knocked it up into the gum, and it had to be removed).
I am unaware of any genetic history in either side of our families that would indicate a predisposition to such a condition.
Granted, this information is anecdotal, and IANAD.
Then there are those of us who manage to have all four wisdom teeth come in (impacted, too) - and have a tooth or two missing as well. In my case, my originally factory-provides set was one-and-a-half lateral incisors short. I have had many thousands of dollars’ worth of orthodontia, bridges, crowns and so forth and still my teeth are crooked.
