How Do You Know If Your Child Needs Braces?

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About four million children in the U.S. wear braces, and the likelihood of children needing braces as their permanent teeth grow is relatively high. However, not all kids will have to have braces even though many parents assume their child will need them. Here is a look at a few general signs your child may eventually need braces.

Your child was a thumbsucker or used a pacifier for several years.

Thumbsucking and pacifiers are natural comforts for babies, but if your child uses these comfort measures beyond the age when their baby teeth have grown in, there can be a higher likelihood that they will eventually need braces. The continued pressure against the teeth can cause them to grow in at an outward slant.

Your child lost their baby teeth later in life than most children.

Children who lose their baby teeth a little later than most ca be more likely to need braces as well. The baby teeth can alter the growth path of the permanent tooth if it stays in place too long. Most children will start losing their baby teeth around the age of six years old. While the exact timing can vary depending on the child’s physiological development, prolonged tooth loss can cause future issues.

Your child’s teeth do not “meet” when they close their mouth.

If your child already has all of their permanent teeth in place, take a look at how their bite aligns when they close their mouth. If there is a slight under or overbite, the child may not necessarily have to get braces. However, if the difference in bite is pretty drastic, your child may need braces to correct the issue.

Your child has unevenly spaced teeth with gaps between or crowding.

One of the more obvious and definitive signs a child needs braces is if there are spaces and gaps between teeth or issues with crowding. Gaps can develop due to irregularities in the growth paths of permanent teeth. Crowding may occur due to genetics or due to slow or delayed loss of baby teeth.

Talk to a BellBrook Dentist About Braces

Learning that your child needs braces can be a little intimidating, but the process is so routine and so carefully honed that most children do just fine with the process. If you believe your child needs braces, reach out to us at Bellbrook Family Dental to schedule an appointment.

Brief History of Dental Implants

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If you think dental implants have only been around for a decade or two, you may be surprised to learn they got their start thousands of years ago. In fact, as far back as 2000 B.C., carved bamboo pegs were used in ancient China to replace missing teeth. Thankfully, we’ve come a long way since then. However, the journey has been filled with plenty of variety.

Gems, Seashells, and More

Believe it or not, it was not uncommon in ancient civilizations and even well into the 18th-century for dentists to use almost anything they could to replace a missing tooth. For those folks who were wealthy, rare gems such as jades were sometimes used to replace a lost tooth. For other individuals, it was common to find their mouths filled with small seashells, rocks, or even the teeth of other people or an animal. But as you would suspect, all of these methods were prone to infection and discomfort, leading dentists to look for more suitable methods.

Thank the Rabbit

As for how dentists finally got on the right track with dental implants, you can thank a rabbit for helping to show them the way. In 1952, the femur bone of a rabbit was fused together with a titanium rod, and the process worked so well that the orthopedic surgeon who performed the surgery thought the same method could be applied to dental implants. Thus, in 1965, the first human volunteer received a titanium dental implant, and the rest is history.

A Quicker Pace

Once the rabbit helped everyone see how well titanium would work with dental implants, researchers hit the fast-forward button and have been going full-speed ahead ever since. Since titanium took care of the past problems where a person’s body would reject the dental implant, screws can now easily be secured to a person’s jaw and eventually fuse with the jawbone, allowing a crown to be inserted over the screw.

Thanks to digital technology, 3-D printers, and ever-increasing scientific knowledge, today’s dental implants have a success rate of over 97 percent. Since you now know you won’t have bamboo, seashells, or other strange things in your mouth, make an appointment with your dentist to discuss how you may benefit from dental implants.

Am I Too Old For Braces?

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Ideally, the human teeth line up like the piano keys. However, many people have to contend with crowded smiles, poorly-aligned bites, and crooked teeth. These dental problems result in more than cosmetic concerns. For example, crowded or overlapping teeth will make it hard for you to clean, making you prone to tooth decay and gum disease. If the teeth do no come together properly after closing the jaws, you may experience problems when chewing and swallowing. Poor alignment can also make it difficult for you to pronounce some sounds and put excessive stress on chewing muscles, leading to facial pain.

It’s Never too Late for Braces

Although the best time for making changes in the positioning of the teeth is during childhood, many adults are seeking orthodontic treatment and getting excellent results. Nowadays, a significant percentage of people going for the procedure are over 18 years old. The process may take longer for older people than for a child. Traditionally, braces were popular among middle and high school students. Many adults are now wearing braces as the oral devices can be Invisalign or other low-profile options that are unnoticeable. Why do older people need braces?

Studies have shown that a significant percentage of adults who buy braces had them when they were younger. Also, millions of people around the world are receiving a form of orthodontic treatment at any given time, including various types of braces. Why do many people get the devices again? Some of the possible reasons are failure to wear retainers or stopping wearing them at some point.

How Do Braces Work?

The science of orthodontics involves putting pressure on the teeth to change their position. Experts attach the devices to the teeth gently, pushing them in the desired alignment.

Do Teeth Shift in Adults?

Yes. Several factors can cause this problem. First, the lower jaw width tends to shrink as you get older. This leads to more crowding of the lower front teeth over time. This dental issues could also cause teeth to grind as you chew. The process causes tooth wear in the long run and damage to oral tissues. As a result, you will have shorter teeth and eventually, facial changes.

There’s no reason to think you can’t correct badly aligned teeth as an adult. Contact your dentist today to discuss your adult braces options.