Preventing Teeth And Jaw Misalignment: 3 Local Developmental Causes Of Malocclusion

Americans are obsessed with having a perfect smile. This includes white and straight teeth that are of the perfect shape and size. The importance of having a straight smile is perhaps the reason behind why over 80% of North American teenagers are currently under orthodontic care to correct teeth and jaw misalignments that have emerged during development. Figuring out what the most prevalent causes of malocclusion are can help you determine whether you will likely be in need of additional dental services. The top 3 local developmental causes are explored in this article.

Premature Loss of Baby Teeth

It's vital that children get their teeth checked regularly to determine whether their baby teeth are becoming loose too early on during development. Depending on which tooth is lost prematurely, the dentist will want to spend a significant more amount of time inspecting and ensuring that certain prevalent malocclusions do not appear in the future. For example, premature loss of deciduous teeth actually caused anterior teeth to become more crowded due to premature eruption of adult teeth.

Prolonged Retention of Baby Teeth

Monitoring when your baby teeth are lost is also important. Prolonged retention of baby teeth can also result in many major malocclusion problems. Your children should lose all 20 of their baby teeth by the time that they reach 12 to 13 years old. If the baby teeth are not becoming loose, your dentist might recommend extracting them to prevent them from causing teeth and jaw misalignment when the adult teeth erupts.

Congenitally Absent or Extra Adult Teeth

X-rays are commonly taken to determine whether children have any congenitally absent or extra adult teeth. Not having enough or having too many adult teeth can affect teeth alignment. If enough misalignment occurs, the teeth may shift the bone and cause jaw misalignment as well. Absent adult teeth can result in bone loss and an unattractive smile. In comparison, having extra adult teeth may never erupt, but may prevent nearby teeth from erupting during development.

Conclusion

Keeping your dental appointments and going to them regularly can help you avoid orthodontic problems associated with teeth and jaw misalignment. Your dentist can monitor teeth positioning and jaw bone development and growth to determine whether any action needs to be taken to keep your smile straight and beautiful. Preventing orthodontic problems from worsening by monitoring dental development is much easier than treating them in the future. For more information, contact a local dentist, like one from West Gate Dental.

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