Cavemen didn’t wear braces, and it’s not just because they weren’t invented yet. Did you know our teeth are more crooked now than in past centuries — and creature comforts are to blame?

Ancestor Braces
Imagine your distant cavewoman ancestor. She really used her teeth to chew, tear and as a tool. And if she was progressive, she came up with some inventive ways to clean and pick her teeth.

Just like every other part of your body, the more you “work out” your mouth, the healthier and stronger it will be. Today, we don’t work out our mouths (unless it’s to create our latest vlog). However, our bodies are notoriously slow at catching up to the times.

It’s also one of the reasons obesity is on the rise. We still have that stubborn ability to hold on to extra calories even though we’re probably not in real danger of starving anymore — it’s just a remnant from ancient times.

Our teeth are no exception, but fortunately orthodontics treatments are saving the day.

Please Be Civilized
If you look at accurate depictions of cavemen skulls, their jaws jutted out more and were bigger and more powerful than ours are today. These more powerful jaws were necessary for tearing meat.

However, as we developed farms, the hunter-gatherer era came to a close. People were prepping food, making it softer and using utensils to cut it into bite-sized pieces. Suddenly, our mouths didn’t have such a tough job.

Our mouths got smaller to adjust to the new portion sizes, but our teeth didn’t keep pace. Some experts say that’s one of the major causes for today’s crooked teeth. We have the same size teeth as our Neanderthal ancestors did, but smaller jaws!

Other researchers suggest that space between teeth was an evolutionary must, because thousands of years ago, the food was so tough that it naturally wore down the teeth and spread them out. Processed foods are less wearing, so teeth have begun to crowd against one another.

Paleo Perks
Unfortunately, following a Paleo diet isn’t going to give you those nice, naturally straight and strong Paleo teeth. But orthodontics will.

Today, we eat more processed food than ever, and even if you’re fully organic, locavore and sustainable, you probably don’t rip at big chunks of raw meat like your ancestors did. You’re still giving your teeth a pretty easy job.

The vast majority of people today don’t have perfectly straight teeth and even bites. The earlier orthodontics is used, the easier it is to manipulate teeth.

Call Johnson Elite Orthodontics today for a free consultation, and get on the fast track to getting a smile your ancestors would be proud of!