Ways to Prevent Your Child From Having Crooked Teeth

Crooked teeth are a common phenomenon among children. You may have suffered from that problem or know someone who had to pay the dentist several visits when you were young. Aside from just wishing for your child to have a pretty and confident smile, crooked teeth can actually have a negative impact on your child's oral health. Conversely, straight teeth will improve your child's self-esteem and prevent cavities and gum diseases. 

If you want to know how to promote your children's teeth development, keep on reading for more information.

Start Teaching Them Oral Hygiene 

One of the most popular causes of crooked teeth is poor dental hygiene. Children who do not have bounds set for their sugar intake can suffer from cavities and gum disease, which can be uncomfortable, particularly at their age. This will also accelerate tooth decay and eventually make their teeth grow crooked. Thus, you must instill the right dental hygiene in your children early to prevent this from happening. Start with teaching them to brush their teeth at least twice a day then move to other positive oral habits, such as flossing and minimizing their sugar intake. It can be difficult at first to follow these rules, so make sure that you introduce them into their daily routines bit by bit.

Deal with Tooth Loss Quickly

Even with the best practices and efforts, children may still lose a tooth due to an accident or decay. In fact, dentists say that tooth loss in children can happen for all sorts of reasons other than poor oral hygiene. The Phoenix-based orthodontists at Dunn Orthodontics explain that swift response is crucial if your kid loses a tooth, as this can affect the surrounding healthy teeth, making them shift into the gaps and, ultimately, become crooked. Make sure that you visit an orthodontist or a dentist to know the best treatment for tooth loss, and ensure that your child sticks to their doctor's orders.

Set up a No Thumb-Sucking Rule

Many children find comfort in sucking their thumb, so it can be very difficult to rid them of this habit. However, doing so is necessary, seeing that it can be one of the major factors that affect tooth growth. Children can sometimes be quite impressionable, but they can also be very stubborn. No matter how your child responds to rules and dictations, it is your job as a parent to instill correct habits in them, as they can't really know what's right and wrong at such a young age. Make sure to monitor them in order to know when they're sucking their thumb. For example, if they're doing so because they're bored, be sure to provide them with other activities to will away the boredom. A family doctor might also offer some insight into what to do in these situations.

It May Run in the Family

Although there can be several behavioral and external factors that can cause your child to have crooked teeth, genetics can be the main contributor to it. Make sure not to omit the possibility of crooked teeth running in the family, especially if some of your older family members suffered from them in their childhood. In that case, prevention might do little to prevent crooked teeth from developing, but a dentist or an orthodontist can provide your child with the proper treatment. After that treatment is done, you need to make sure that your child is following oral hygiene habits and overall avoiding any habits that can develop crooked teeth.

Start Prevention Early

To put it bluntly, fixing crooked teeth is not an easy endeavor for all parties involved and might take time, effort, and a lot of money to get that straight-teeth smile. That's why it is important to prevent this from happening in the first place. The tips we've mentioned above should help you do so, but before you apply them, look for warning signs such as unusual facial appearance or difficulty in speaking or swallowing. If you can prevent your child's teeth from being crooked at an early age (before 10 to be specific), you may not even need to use braces. Generally speaking, braces can be the best option after the age of 12.

Now that you know some good preventive methods to avoid crooked teeth, you can worry less about your child's oral health. It is always great to consult a specialist on a regular basis to ensure that your children's teeth are developing correctly. If your child's teeth are still growing crooked despite your best efforts, you can always consider orthodontic treatments.