Orthodontic treatments such as dental braces go beyond typical oral hygiene and health to initiate appropriate jaw alignment and function. Correctly aligned teeth are easy to maintain and clean, lowering the risk of gum disease, tooth decay, and other dental problems. A fair bit is vital for supporting children’s biting, chewing, and speech development.
To help your child develop proper alignment and function, they might require dental braces, especially if they have crooked teeth and other dental challenges.
If your child has dental problems and you’re wondering if they need dental braces. Keep an eye on the following signs that may indicate that dental braces are necessary.
- What Are Dental Braces?
Orthodontists use dental braces to straighten and move teeth to improve their appearance. Braces ensure your oral health is long-term. Additionally, they can make eating comfortable.
Braces put pressure on teeth and gradually move them in the right direction. As the pressure takes effect, the jawbones change, allowing the teeth and the roots to move in the right direction.
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- Signs That Your Child Requires Dental Braces
There are obvious signs that your child might need dental braces. They are as follows:
- Crooked Teeth
Crooked teeth are among the most obvious signs that your child might require dental braces. If your child’s teeth are crooked or overlapped, they might need orthodontic treatment.
Some of the reasons behind your child’s crooked teeth include:
- Genetics
If parents require dental braces to correct their teeth, it’s more probable that the child might need dental braces too.
- Thumb Sucking
Thumb sucking can lead to different bad bites in children’s developing mouths that require correction with orthodontic treatment.
- Mouth Breathing
Mouth breathing can cause several complications in a child’s developing mouth. Among these complications are crooked and overlapping teeth.
- Speech Difficulties
The manner your child speaks depends on the jaw and teeth alignment. If your child has difficulty speaking, they might require dental braces since their teeth’ alignment could be why.
However, you might need to take them for a dental checkup since the speech difficulty could be caused by:
- Difficulty In Pronouncing Words
While most children have difficulty pronouncing the letters R and S, some find it challenging to pronounce other letters. When a child has difficulty pronouncing, it’s more likely to be caused by a bad bite. Fortunately, dental braces and other orthodontic treatments can align your child’s teeth and jaw, correcting their pronouncing problem.
- Slurring Words
Slurring words are common in children with inadequate room in their mouths. If your child has this problem, take it to a dentist. The orthodontist will administer treatment to grow the bottom jaw allowing enough space to prevent slurring words. This treatment will also ensure that adult teeth grow easily. After your child’s adult teeth come in, they will receive braces to enhance the treatment, allowing them to speak clearly.
- Difficulty Chewing Or Biting
If your child’s teeth are correctly aligned, biting and chewing should be rain and rainbows. Unfortunately, if their teeth are misaligned, they’re likely to experience difficulty eating food, affecting their growth.
Fortunately, braces help shift your child’s teeth into the proper position, allowing them to function accordingly. The common symptoms of unalignment include:
- Unable To Chew Well
The apparent sign of an unaligned jaw is difficulty chewing food. This can cause indigestion and stomach pain.
- Pain When Chewing
If your child experiences pain when biting fruits or chewing food, they might be suffering from temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain caused by an unaligned jaw.
- Avoiding Food
Children are more likely to avoid food if they experience pain when eating. If your child refuses food due to pain caused by an alignment jaw, feed them with soft food as you seek an orthodontist’s help.
- Grinding Teeth
Does your child grind their teeth, especially at night? If yes, they could be suffering from misalignment.
If grinding teeth are left untreated, it can damage teeth and other shift teeth and jaw alignment.
- Late Losing Baby Teeth
Baby teeth fall on their own at the right time. However, if your child is past 12 years and still has baby teeth, it’s essential to take them to an orthodontist for braces for the following reasons:
- Adult Teeth Requires Room
Whether or not your child still has baby teeth, when the time comes for adult teeth to come in, they will. This means your child will have overlapping and shifting teeth.
- Likelihood Of Crooked Teeth
With baby teeth still in place, there’s a high probability that your child’s adult teeth will be crooked.
- Might Require Braces Immediately
If your child’s dentist feels your child has enough adult teeth, they might start braces treatment immediately. This means that the remaining baby teeth should be pulled out to pave the way for braces and adult teeth to prevent further challenges.
- Your Dentist Recommends
In most cases, your child’s dentist is the first to notice a problem with their teeth. Therefore, they’re the ones who first recommend dental braces for your child. To your surprise, there’s more to a healthy smile. While your child might have straight teeth, they might require braces for the following reasons:
- Teeth Alignment
Though their teeth might look straight, they might be unaligned, leading to severe problems if left untreated.
- Bad Bite
A bad bit is precisely that. When the jaw isn’t aligned, it can cause several bite problems, leading to back, neck, or jaw pain.
Conclusion
Jaw and teeth misalignment problems are common in children and occur for various reasons. Pediatric habits cause some accidents, dental diseases and others are inherited. You might notice dental irregularities on your own, or your dentist might recommend a second opinion from an orthodontist.
Regardless of when or how you notice a dental problem, only a specialist can determine whether or not your child requires dental braces to correct the problem. A professional orthodontist or dentist should only install dental braces in a reputable clinic.
