Wisdom?

Was just thinking why and what's it about. Now I know.....fail to mention the pain...oh well!

Wisdom teeth are third molars that usually appear between the ages of 18 and 20 (although they may appear when older, younger, or fail to appear at all). They are called "wisdom teeth" because they appear so late—much later than the other teeth, at an age where people are supposedly wiser than as a child, when the other teeth erupt. Often they need to be removed when they impact against other teeth—colloquially known as "coming in sideways".

Wisdom teeth are sometimes described as an example of a "vestigial" trait. Some argue that recent changes to softer diets which cause less wear on the teeth may be causing the third molars to be less useful, and, in fact, problematic in many humans. Alternately, it is possible that wisdom teeth were useful when it was common for humans to lose several teeth to decay by the age when they appear.

Although most people have four wisdom teeth, it is possible to have more or fewer. Supernumerary teeth are any extra teeth.