Goodbye, Wisdom.

I am officially without wisdom. All 4 of my wisdom teeth are out. Although there is still swelling; the pain has subsided and I am relieved that there will be no more crowding. What are wisdom teeth and why do they have to be there??? I read in this article that:

Wisdom Teeth 
The average adult has 32 teeth by age 18 — 16 teeth on the top and 16 teeth on the bottom. Each tooth in the mouth has a specific name and function. The teeth in the front of the mouth (incisors, canine and bicuspid teeth) are ideal for grasping and biting food into smaller pieces while the back teeth, or molar teeth, are used to grind food up into a consistency suitable for swallowing. However, the average mouth is made to hold only 28 teeth. It can be painful when 32 teeth try to fit in a mouth that holds only 28 teeth. These four other teeth are your Third Molars, also known as "wisdom teeth." 

Why Should I Remove My Wisdom Teeth? 
Wisdom teeth are the last teeth to erupt within the mouth. When they align properly, and gum tissue is healthy, wisdom teeth do not have to be removed. Unfortunately, this does not generally happen. The extraction of wisdom teeth is necessary when they are prevented from properly erupting within the mouth. They may grow sideways, partially emerge from the gum, and even remain trapped beneath the gum and bone. Impacted teeth can take many positions in the bone as they attempt to find a pathway that will allow them to erupt successfully. These poorly positioned impacted teeth can cause many problems. When they are partially erupted, the opening around the tooth allows bacteria to grow and will eventually cause an infection. The result: swelling, stiffness, pain and illness. The pressure from the erupting wisdom tooth may move other teeth and disrupt the orthodontic or natural alignment of teeth. The most serious problem occurs when tumors or cysts form around the impacted wisdom tooth, resulting in the destruction of the jawbone and healthy teeth. Removal of the offending impacted tooth or teeth usually resolves these problems. Early removal is recommended to avoid such future problems and to decrease the surgical risk involved with the procedure.

My question is, why are there 3rd molars when our jaws can only hold up to 28 teeth!? What are they there for?

 Wisdom teeth are used for the same thing the rest of your teeth are used for...to grind your food. But they were used more before the invention of fire and cooked food. The widom teeth are suited for grinding raw meat. But since we cook our food, we don't need them.

Factoid#21 - Scientists say that eventually, we will lose our wisdom teeth since we don't need them. Evolution makes our mouths smaller as the wisdom teeth take longer and longer to grow in with each generation. Got the answer here and there's a more detailed explanation here.