My teeth are crooked
My deciduous teeth were crooked, and my adult teeth are crooked. Granted, they used to be more crooked than they are, but when my mom couldn't afford braces (which I really desperately needed), the dentist shaved down my incisors to make a little more room. My wisdom teeth started coming in at 16 (which is pretty early), and I noticed because my second mandibular molars were moving and tilting like a boat in a hurricane (okay, not so fast, but certainly as drastically). Last year, my right madibular third premolar (p3) started to come apart (on the side between the p3 and the m1), ironically the first chunk came off while I was flossing. I went to the dentist, who said that my oral hygiene was darn near perfect, and that I had 12 cavities, 5 or so of which would need root canals. How does that happen if your dental hygiene is so good, one may ask. I refer you to the title of this post for your answer. Basically, all of the extra pressure on weird parts of my teeth cause them to be wussy, which causes them to develop cavities pretty easily. The dentist said that what I could do was 91) spend lots of money on rebuilding the broken tooth, or (2) have both of my p3's pulled and get braces. I opted for (3) do nothing, because I was broke and lost my dental insurance right after that. Thanks, California, for your excellent care of its hardworking citizens. Well, that damn tooth is pretty much hollow now, though the nerve is still alive as its as white and healthy looking as its always been. And now, there has been enough of my tooth missing for long enough that a space is developing on the other side of it, in between the p2 and p3. That's right, my teeth are starting to move on their own accord. Which means that I should just get the goddamn braces anyway. Which I want to. But I have no money for it. Solutions anyone?
If you draw a line down your face, from your forehead, down your nose and over your jaw, you could split your face into two halves (right and left). Your teeth are all either mandibular (in the lower jaw) or maxillary (upper), and either right or left. Now, put your tongue on your very front teeth and start counting with me (you can choose either top or bottom, right or left, as long as you have all your teeth, this should work). Your front teeth are your incisors, you have two on whatever quarter of your head you chose (top right, bottom left, etc). They get marked as i1 and i2, counting from the middle out. Then you have your canine, one for each quarter. Then, (if you're human, and you've got all your teeth), you have two premolars. But didn't I call my premolar above a p3? Why yes, yes I did. That's because primate dentition incorporates at a maximum some combination of the following: 2 incisors, 1 canine, 3 premolars, 3 molars. All primate teeth get counted based on the location of their teeth compared to the max - and humans lost their p1 a long time ago. So now we have a p2 and a p3, but no p1. Other primates have p1's, but may be missing some other teeth. Its kinda weird, right? Okay, after the premolars, we have 3 molars. Or most of us do. The m3 is the "wisdom tooth", which a lot of people get removed (sometimes whether they need to or not), because we humans are in the process of loosing yet another tooth, so the m3 sometimes comes in all wrong and messes up the rest of the mouth party. Of course, your dentist uses completely different names for your teeth (like bicuspid), so this probably is more along the lines of "oh, thats interesting" rather than actually useful.
Which brings me to another random tooth thought... Genetically speaking, teeth are incredibly conservative. It takes thousands and sometimes millions of years for teeth to change in any way, and that's where a lot of archaeological evidence for paleo species comes from - the similarity in teeth morphology. Teeth are also the most physically conservative, literally. For so many specimen, all we have is teeth, no bone, because it just didn't preserve. I find this coincidence intriguing - our teeth are stable in so many different ways, so resistant to change. Weird.
Also, I need to go to Africa. Not just want, need. Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa. Any of those places will do. But now its a deep, personal, NEED.
I also randomly found a picture of Tim White in a book I was looking at in Border's today, so I can punch him in the balls with the confidence of knowing I've got the correct Tim White. Watch out, motherfucker!! Your days are numbered!
/morphology nerdness.
If you draw a line down your face, from your forehead, down your nose and over your jaw, you could split your face into two halves (right and left). Your teeth are all either mandibular (in the lower jaw) or maxillary (upper), and either right or left. Now, put your tongue on your very front teeth and start counting with me (you can choose either top or bottom, right or left, as long as you have all your teeth, this should work). Your front teeth are your incisors, you have two on whatever quarter of your head you chose (top right, bottom left, etc). They get marked as i1 and i2, counting from the middle out. Then you have your canine, one for each quarter. Then, (if you're human, and you've got all your teeth), you have two premolars. But didn't I call my premolar above a p3? Why yes, yes I did. That's because primate dentition incorporates at a maximum some combination of the following: 2 incisors, 1 canine, 3 premolars, 3 molars. All primate teeth get counted based on the location of their teeth compared to the max - and humans lost their p1 a long time ago. So now we have a p2 and a p3, but no p1. Other primates have p1's, but may be missing some other teeth. Its kinda weird, right? Okay, after the premolars, we have 3 molars. Or most of us do. The m3 is the "wisdom tooth", which a lot of people get removed (sometimes whether they need to or not), because we humans are in the process of loosing yet another tooth, so the m3 sometimes comes in all wrong and messes up the rest of the mouth party. Of course, your dentist uses completely different names for your teeth (like bicuspid), so this probably is more along the lines of "oh, thats interesting" rather than actually useful.
Which brings me to another random tooth thought... Genetically speaking, teeth are incredibly conservative. It takes thousands and sometimes millions of years for teeth to change in any way, and that's where a lot of archaeological evidence for paleo species comes from - the similarity in teeth morphology. Teeth are also the most physically conservative, literally. For so many specimen, all we have is teeth, no bone, because it just didn't preserve. I find this coincidence intriguing - our teeth are stable in so many different ways, so resistant to change. Weird.
Also, I need to go to Africa. Not just want, need. Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa. Any of those places will do. But now its a deep, personal, NEED.
I also randomly found a picture of Tim White in a book I was looking at in Border's today, so I can punch him in the balls with the confidence of knowing I've got the correct Tim White. Watch out, motherfucker!! Your days are numbered!
/morphology nerdness.