Why Do Kids Get Crooked Teeth?

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If your child has crooked baby teeth, most likely, their adult teeth will be crooked as well. Why is this?

This is because children inherit skeletal and dental features from their parents and their relatives.

Sometimes the teeth are inherited from one relative and the jaw structure from another, resulting in a mismatch in tooth size and jaw size. This can result in too little (or less commonly too much) space for the adult teeth. This will not always become apparent until the later stages of dental development.

Habits in young children can influence the growth of the jaws and position of the teeth. Pacifiers and thumb sucking generally result in some moulding of the jaw growth in both the lower and upper teeth bearing areas. An ‘open bite’ may result.

An orthodontic assessment at age seven or eight years is often comforting for parents and will allow for early treatment in the small percentage of children who require it. If you think your child might need braces, bring them into our office for a consultation.