Overcrowded teeth in children point to an underlying jaw development issue

Has your child been told their teeth are crowded? Have you been told that they’ll most likely need healthy teeth extracted to make space for a straighter smile? Have you, yourself, had teeth extracted as a teen as part of traditional orthodontic treatment? Have you been puzzled by this approach? 

At Limitless Dental, we believe that a child’s crowded smile points to an underlying problem that can be addressed without invasive measures, such as taking teeth out. This underlying problem stems from less-than-ideal jaw development as a young child, where rapid dentofacial growth and development occurs.

The growth of a child’s jaw and face to its optimal potential is critical for proper airway development and overall well-being. At 6 years old, the jaw will have reached about 80% of its adult size. 

Factors that inhibit optimal growth of the jaws include habits such as:

• Mouth-breathing
• Incorrect resting position of the tongue (away from the roof of the mouth)
• Dummy use
• Soft food in diet and lack of chewing

This leads to small jaws that have insufficient space to accommodate adult teeth as they come through from 6 years of age (on average). The impacts of a small jaw at a young age include:

• Facial growth alterations (e.g. long, narrow face)
• Narrow airway, making it difficult to breathe effectively
• Sleep disordered breathing
• Persistent mouth breathing
• Poor body posture
• Speech difficulties 

Your child may not experience all of these symptoms. However, if small jaws are left to grow in that trajectory, your child may go on to develop other health issues as they get older, including:

• Headaches or migraines
• Chronic temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ or TMD)
• Chronic obstructive sleep apnea

A crooked smile is the most obvious marker of a small jaw, though. The smile becomes crowded as adult teeth jostle for space to emerge. While traditional orthodontic advice was to wait until your child is a teen to start braces or aligners, the dentists at Limitless Dental can help kids with early orthodontic treatment to guide proper jaw development from the moment they lose their first baby tooth.

This may include the use of removable orthodontic appliances to help widen a narrow top jaw, before the palate fully fuses in adulthood. This creates room in their growing jaws for adult teeth to resettle in a straighter fashion, without the need to extract teeth. It may also involve referrals to oral myologists and ENTs to break habits such as mouth-breathing and correct any underlying sleep breathing disorders, if present. 

Optimal jaw development is a top priority in children, alongside healthy teeth and gums, which our dentists regularly screen for. If your child has been told they might need healthy teeth taken out, give Limitless dental a call on 9569 8091 or book online for a second opinion. We may be able to help!