What is the purpose of wisdom teeth?

What I don't understand about wisdom teeth is why do we get them? They don't start erupting until we're in out twenties (sometimes later for some people), yet from an evolutionary point of view, early human/pre modern man only had a life expectancy of about 40-50 so what is the purpose of developing new teeth so late in life?

What is the purpose of wisdom teeth?
well its in natures hand,,,you cant ask why its erupting,,,earlier they were used by the primates,,, cause they used to eat raw food which involved the active use of the wisodm teeths,,,,but nowdays these teeth are not being used as in todays world people are eating refined food which is soft and less chewable,,,as the wisdom teeths are not being used they bcome crowded so due to the improper alignment they have to be removed,,,,thats all,,,hope i answered ur question,,,,the tooth which fails to erupt in the mouth is called as impacted tooth ,,,,most of the wisdom teeths are impacted ,,so they have to be removed....
Reply:There is no purpose. Wisdom teeth are vestigial, which means that they used to serve a purpose, but evolution rendered them useless for our species. Same thing goes for tailbones. =)
Reply:Here's a good answer:


http://www.gaoralsurgery.com/procedures/...
Reply:The reason they got them so late in life, is probably because all the rest of their teeth had fallen out.
Reply:for wisdom duh
Reply:same as an appendix
Reply:The fact that your asking the question...shows you are using your head and developing wisdom...therefore the name Wisdom Teeth...they make you think why you have them in the first place
Reply:Our 'wisdom teeth' are molars that are a throw-back from the early evolution of hominids from the apes. These teeth fulfilled the function of grinding food, in particular tough vegetation that many apes, our ancestors, regularly ate as part of their diet. Today, we look to regulate our diet to include 'fibre', but apes knew nothing about diet, they merely ate instinctively those foods that are appropriate for their health and proper development.


Yes, as one answer points out, they are evolutionary vestiges, like our coccyx, our appendix and the longer second toe on our feet! As you are aware, very few of us humans chew bark, have tails, or swing from trees (that is, no one that I know) - but our ape-ancestors did.
Reply:To summarise musicman's link..


If you knock teeth out the other teeth space out a bit. Primitive man was always losing teeth so four extra would not cause crowding as it does these days, hence they get pulled a lot.
Reply:Like,duh, to chew with. As to why we get them, no one has figured that out. 20-29 really is'nt late in life, even thousands of years ago, some people lived to be 90, but it was common to die before you reached your teens which lowered the average lifespan. If someone lost all their erupted teeth early, then got his wisdom teeth it would be good, because he would have something to attach his dentures to.
Reply:for the pain of it all.
Reply:A lot of people don't know this. It is because actually they are replacing teeth that have fallen out. Well, teeth that would have fallen out. See, before we used to take such good care of our teeth, some of them would fall out. That is why we must have them removed sometimes. See, if we don't lose a tooth, then our eventual wisdom teeth will have nowhere to go, that is why they become impacted. They have no room to grow, so they try to come out in any way possible. Oh and also, wisdom teeth usually come out earlier than twenty, Its usually around 15 or 16.



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