<p>Tooth ablation, i.e. the removal of perfectly and healthy teeth, is considered a typical, autochthonous aspect of Jōmon period. For a long time, archaeologists focused their researches on teeth extraction, looking for a reason why someone should have removed healthy teeth. Social, food or gender motivations were proposed, and someone proposed the binomial: different types of tooth ablation-different human groups (however this last theory has been disapproved). In particular, archaeologists believe this custom was widespread and became a common practice between the Late and Final Jōmon. In this paper, the author raises two main issues: was tooth ablation during the Jōmon period truly widespread in the Japanese archipelago? Or did the ablation cases increase significantly later, after the beginning of the Yayoi period in Kyūshū? Secondly, was tooth ablation practice widespread due to “internal factors” or is it the “fossil guide” to prove the presence of newcomers from current China teritories, the only ones who could have introduced also the wet rice in the Japanese archipelago.</p>