4 ms·

Humans 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 ago
  This 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 ago
    Ah, but strong claims are a good tactic for eliciting fascinating responses like this one - thanks!