We start this article by quoting a very real sentence from Dr. Esmeralda Herrero, to take it to our daily terrain: teeth.
Many times parents ask and question whether it is worth correcting some small problems that we detect when they are so young and still have milk teeth.
The answer is clear: YES, because what at 3 years is solved with 3 months, at 13 years is solved with 3 years
If you have noticed not everyone has teeth in the same position, each mouth is unique and this is due to the fact that multiple factors intervene in the final position of the teeth.
If we analyze them all, we can intervene and influence them to try to avoid treatment with devices or, at least, minimize it.
So be careful, let’s get technical but we will try to explain it to you in a simple way! Here is a small list of the topics we will talk about.
- Genetics: tongue tel or hypertrophic lingual “frenillo”, supernumerary teeth, blocked teeth, canines included, certain skeletal patterns.
- Habits: pacifier, finger, sleeping position, onychophagia (biting nails), etc..
- Functions: oral breathing, atypical swallowing, chewing
- Early treatment with Planes slopes
How can we help?
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Making a good first visit
In this first visit we will include a good medical history, an examination of the teeth and an X-ray. Thanks to all this it can be detected:
- Extra teeth that interfere with the eruption of the permanent teeth
- Blocked teeth: sometimes the milk tooth falls out ahead of time and eats the space for the final tooth to come out, if the final tooth is not treated, it will not be able to leave
- Hypertrophic lingual frenulum that forces the tongue to be kept low and as a result decreases the growth of the maxilla, giving rise to narrow palates where the teeth do not fit
- Control of canines: they are teeth that are sometimes lost on the palate. If we detect it in time, we can avoid it by strategically removing milk teeth.
It would not be the first time that patients have arrived at the age of 13, with a perfectly aligned mouth, with a tusk that comes out in a horizontal position.
The forecast, in this case, will be a great ally and saver of dislikes.
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Habit control
The help of the pediatric dentist or orthodontist can be key to helping you have good oral habits in children.
Such as? Well, through a lot of information and positive reinforcement we try to help children to leave habits that are interfering with the correct bone growth.
Here we highlight those habits that must be reviewed, both at home and at the dentist:
- The pacifier: it is one of the main protagonists that causes movements in the teeth that are good to control if the use of this great childhood friend does not lengthen.
- The finger: the case of digital suction, such as pacifier, can also affect the bite of the little ones, in addition to having bone repercussions.
- Same position when always sleeping: continuous pressure on a bone can affect its growth.
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Function control
Having good control of functions is very important, poor function ALWAYS leads to bone problems and as a consequence in dental problems:
- Chewing: as we mentioned in a publication a while ago, looking at which side our children chew can be used to detect possible muscle and postural problems that can affect the growth of the little ones. If the child always chews on the same side, the muscles on the same side hypertrophy and asymmetric growth and malocclusion occur. Symmetrical growth can be achieved by helping the child chew on both sides alternately. Sometimes it’s as easy as polishing a milk tooth that bothers you to chew on one side.
- Breathing: breathing with an open mouth forces the child to keep his mouth open and his tongue goes down, otherwise the air does not enter. The growth of the maxilla is diminished giving rise to a narrow palate where the teeth do not fit and the posterior jaw rotates making a vertical growth. Between parents, otorhinos and dentists we can re-educate our breathing. A child with correct breathing will rest better, concentrate and perform more, and have healthy growth. In this post we discussed more details.
- Swallowing, that is, the way in which children swallow, evolves from birth until the first teeth come out. With lactation, babies put their tongues through the gums and make the muscles strong. When the first teeth come out, swallowing changes and the tongue is placed on the palate. If this position is not achieved and the tongue is placed between the teeth when tragating, it can be finished with a previous open bite. A malocclusion that we can detect between dentists and speech therapists and can be solved with exercises.
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Early treatment
Many times we find children who need a little more help because due to the factors we have explained above, it has already caused them a malocclusion. From 3 to 6 years old there is a treatment without devices that in 3-6 months has corrected the problem
The Slopes de Planes are mountains of transparent resin that guide the jaw to its correct position and force the child to chew correctly
- They are comfortable, easy to put on, very effective and allow us to correct large malocclusions in the simplest and most physiological way possible in just 3-6 months.
- We can correct, lateral and anterior cross bites, overbites and classes II
- They are ideal to put from 3 to 6 years old, later on they no longer work so well.
Below we share some images so that you can more easily see the type of children’s teeth.
| Previous cross bite | Overbite | Pistes de Planes |
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We finish this great article including a table with problems and common treatments that we do at the Dental Clinic.
PROBLEM |
INTERCEPTIVE TREATMENT |
| Tusk included horizontally on the palate: the tusk has been trapped crossed on the palate and will never come out, it is very hereditary.
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Exodontics of the milk tusk and radiological control.
Treatment time: 30 minutes |
| Hypertrophy or lingual frenulum | Phrenicotomy and rehabilitation
Treatment time 3 months |
| Finger habit, pacifier or position when sleeping. | Elimination of the habit through information and positive reinforcement.
Treatment time 3 months |
| Oral Breathing | Resection tonsils or carnots
Re-education breathing with speech therapist Adhesive tape closing the mouth for sleep Maximum treatment time 3 months |
| Unilateral chewing | Selective cutting: the cusps of milk teeth that are interfering with proper chewing are polished
Treatment time: 30 min |
| Atypical swallowing | Rehabilitation with speech therapist
Treatment time 3 months |
| One-sided cross-bite with deviation of the jaw: the patient bites backwards usually due to a narrow palate this forces him to deflect his jaw to the side. | Treatment with flat tracks (transparent resin mountaineers that are placed to focus the jaw) + chewing control
Treatment time: 6 months, symmetrical growth of the patient |
| Previous cross bite: the patient bites upside down at the previous level | Treatment with flat clues (the anterior teeth are lengthened with resin so that the patient is forced to bite well) + control of chewing
Treatment time: 3 months, symmetrical growth of the patient |
| Overbite: the upper teeth cover all the lower teeth at the anterior level causing a blockage in the growth of the jaw | Treatment with flat slopes (transparent resin mountains) + chewing control
Treatment time: 3-6 months, free mandibular growth. |
We hope we have convinced you that check-ups at the dentist since the first tooth comes out are of vital importance.
If you have any questions, here we are a team of professionals to accompany and guide you in this world of teeth and growth.