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If you never get cavities, the principal reason for brushing goes out the window. Humans survived for tens of thousands of years with plaque and yesterday's kil
by geuis 14y ago
If you never get cavities, the principal reason for brushing goes out the window. Humans survived for tens of thousands of years with plaque and yesterday's kill stuck in the teeth, even when poor dental was predominant.
The primary reasons to brush your teeth are to prevent cavities, plaque buildup, and smell. If you don't get the first problem, the others are easy to ignore. Pleasant smelling breath is a modern ascetic, so it's easy to imagine a scenario where a young man that hasn't had regular intimate contact yet ignores the bad breath. It's only afterword that the positive social benefits become understood.
- Vivtek 14y agoHumans survived with poor dental care by dying before their teeth were completely rotted. If you plan to live longer than about 50, you'd better brush.
- btilly 14y agoThis is a very strong claim, and is not backed by the evidence. Studies of surviving hunting-gathering societies suggest that their lives were much lower stress and life spans (barring violent accident) much longer than early agricultural societies. Even with accident included, their lifespans were better comparatively recently. (For instance the eskimos, despite living in one of the harshest environments on Earth, had about a 25% chance of surviving to 60.) Whether or not they would lose their teeth varied by diet. Our diets have lots of sugar and grains in them which promotes tooth decay. Other diets differ. Early surveys of eskimos that had never eaten Western food showed that most never have had a cavity in their lives. The immunity was not genetic - those exposed to Western food had plenty of cavities. See http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2008/07/mortality-and-lifespan-of-inuit.html http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2008/07/mortality-and-... for a reference to the lifespan of eskimos. See http://www.journeytoforever.org/farm_library/price/price5.html http://www.journeytoforever.org/farm_library/price/price5.ht... for some evidence about their lack of tooth decay.
- Vivtek 14y agoAh, but strong claims are a good tactic for eliciting fascinating responses like this one - thanks!