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How To Diagnose Early Orthodontic Problems
A "gallery" of orthodontic problems a parent might see if they take a good look at their child between ages 7 to 11. These are the kind of problems you need to treat early and shouldn't ignore.
Who says your child should suffer a poor self-image and have poor self-esteem from age 7 to 11 due to ugly teeth? If you wait until the child is a hardcore teenager, you are making a child suffer needlessly. Early treatment is easy, affordable, and available in our office.
If you have not already read the section on How Kids Grow, please do so now. You have to understand this concept to see how and when treatment is necessary.
We say it isn't necessary they suffer the taunting of their peers, being called names because of a correctible problem, and they CAN have a nice smile during those formative years. It's about self-esteem and interception of problems.
When kids this age appear to have adult "normal" alignment of the teeth, sometimes they will become crowded due to lack of space for all the permanent teeth. Ideally, you want to see some spacing between the baby teeth which would allow for full alignment of the erupting permanent teeth.
| Twisted sisters? You bet. If the front teeth come in rotated and block out space for the next set of teeth to erupt, then something should be done early to avoid this kind of problem which often leads to teasing by peers. The same goes for the lower teeth if you see a double row of teeth. |
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| Crowded lower front teeth. Note the cuspids, (the pointed teeth at the corners), are blocked out of alignment and there is crowding of the incisors. The trick on this kind of problem is early treatment and it's almost too late on this one. There is only one baby tooth left and that is where the space to correct the problem will have to come from. This patient is about age eleven. |
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| Two rows of teeth? Not. It's just the permanent laterals peeking out behind the baby teeth. What needs to be done here is some interceptive treatment to avoid problems and should be done by age eight without braces. |
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| Splayed front teeth due to lack of space and a crossbite of the back teeth. Note on the left side of the photo, the back teeth are in crossbite compared to those on the right side. This problem has to be treated early with palatal expansion to gain room for the front teeth which are being severely diverted from a normal position. The space between the front teeth is due to abnormal root position. |
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Here the upper front teeth protrude and there is an "open bite". The bite is open because the front teeth don't touch when the back teeth are in contact. The front teeth protrude, "Class Two relation" due to a thrust which is illustrated below by the tongue being between the teeth during a swallow. |
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| Does anything about this kid look right to you? There is an upper lateral that isn't erupted, the spaces are too large, there is crowding in the lower teeth. Time to take a look...! |
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| One of the worst problems to ignore. Crossbite of the front teeth. Note how long the lower incisor looks due to bone and tissue loss. The upper teeth are 'behind' the lower teeth. It should be just the opposite: top teeth out in front of the lower teeth. If this problem is ignored, severe bone and tissue loss occurs. It needs to be corrected as soon as noted and usually about age 7 to 8. |
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