What I Miss(ed)

The post wisdom teeth extraction saga continues...

Within the constraints and the do's/don'ts recommended by the dentist I realized how much I miss 'regular' food. Besides, of course, the whole mouth yawns, the cheek to cheek smile, the snack munching, making faces at people and half a million other things.

Having survived one entire week on soup, juices, mashed potatoes, rice, tofu etc. I was in dire need of some real food. (Yes, it's all about food for me :) ) I searched through the different feasible options and decided to venture into something that had flavor and substance. The few recipes I managed to cook & swallow yet were tasteless. Again it was back to fluids, fluids and fluids. I still remember the last good meal with my wisdom teeth the day before the surgery. The good 'ol days! The past one week has seen me going through bleeding, little bit of swelling, fluids, pain, healing to finally food! Not to mention I did enjoy all the pudding, 'shrikhand' and ice cream.

The wisdom teeth are popularly referred as third molars by dentists and 'cash cows' by oral surgeons. The real story behind removing 'these teeth' is evolution. Yes, wisdom teeth are being eliminated as a step of evolution. We have evolved from ape-like ancestors that possessed larger jaws and teeth than us. In this process of evolution the jaw has become smaller, allowing less room for the third molars and causing numerous dental problems. Also, our diet over decades has become so refined that we no longer need bigger jaws or third molars. Thus, we no longer require wisdom teeth. Even if the wisdom tooth bud develops, there is no space in our jaws to accommodate it, so it stays within bone, troubling the tooth adjacent to it. I guess people without wisdom teeth are highly evolved.

Mine are out and am happy the way things have gone so far especially after reading the possible things that could go wrong! Now, I have this real urge and need to bite into something hard. Hopefully sooner! Well, this damn shortcoming in evolution definitely hurt me physically and monetarily. Good news is that I'm getting better and have entered the food with flavor phase now!!