Anthropology and Braces
A new study coming out of the University of Kent may help explain why almost everyone you know had or will have braces.
According to Dr. Noreen von Cramon-Taubadel, the shape of the human mandible (lower jaw) depends mostly on what sorts of foods it has to chew. Dr. Cramon-Taubadel’s anthropological study looked at 11 globally distributed populations and found that among all of them, food and not genetics, was the primary culprit behind jaw shape.
According to the study, the mandible of a hunter-gather is longer and narrower than that of a person living in an agricultural society. This longer jaw allows more room for new teeth to enter and develop. A shorter jaw, on the other hand, would be more susceptible to overcrowding.
Today our chewing habits more closely resemble the agriculturalists than the hunter-gatherers. Instead of tearing meat off the bone and grinding our teeth against nutshells, we’re more likely to pour ourselves a bowl of cereal or heat up a frozen chicken dinner in the microwave. It’s likely that this “soft diet” could account for the overcrowding in our mouths. The rise of processed foods has made eating easier than ever. Perhaps the reason almost everyone needs braces these days is simply because we aren’t chewing like we used to.
If you think your agricultural “soft diet” may have caused overcrowding in your mandible, call or visit Culebra North Dental Care today.
