where does the term wisdom teeth come from
Wisdom tooth Although formally known as third molars, the common name is wisdom teeth because they appear so late â€“ much later than the other teeth, at an age where people are presumably "wiser" than as a child, when the other teeth erupt.[13] The term probably came as a translation of the Latin dens sapientiae. Their eruption has been known to cause dental issues for centuries; it was noted at least as far back as Aristotle:
Mandible In lobe-finned fishes and the early fossil tetrapods, the bone homologous to the mandible of mammals is merely the largest of several bones in the lower jaw. In such animals, it is referred to as the dentary bone, and forms the body of the outer surface of the jaw. It is bordered below by a number of splenial bones, while the angle of the jaw is formed by a lower angular bone and a suprangular bone just above it. The inner surface of the jaw is lined by a prearticular bone, while the articular bone forms the articulation with the skull proper. Finally a set of three narrow coronoid bones lie above the prearticular bone. As the name implies, the majority of the teeth are attached to the dentary, but there are commonly also teeth on the coronoid bones, and sometimes on the prearticular as well.[8]