We just returned from a orthodontic consultation for my 10 year old and two
issues came up which I'd like to open up for discussion.

First (and least important), was the question of why humans have wisdom
teeth, since almost no one seems able to keep theirs.  The orthodontist
attributes this dental feature to the fact that our "prehistoric grain
foods" (oh, right) had lots of little rocks and extra fiber which wore down
the teeth, so those teeth came forward and made room for the wisdom teeth.
One hopes that a firm grasp of paleobiology is not prerequisite for sound
dental practices...

Second, orthodontics are offered and encouraged very early these days.  My
10 y.o., it seems, requires an expander to make room in the upper jaw.  (She
has not been on a paleo diet. I only discovered paleo myself last fall, and
my family is making smaller, slower adjustments than I.)  It seems very
young to be having work done, but maybe the timing of it with the
yet-unfinished hardening of the skull plates is ideal. I will be doing more
research on this in the next week or two.  Any comments from this group
would be most welcome.  A trivial topic perhaps, but we've had a pretty
quiet list for a while so I thought I'd throw it out there.

Thanks,
CK