Crowding or Crooked Teeth

Many parents and caregivers have cause to wonder about the questions ‘what are crowding or crooked teeth?’ and ‘how can I fix this problem for my child?’ Crooked or crowded teeth are when the teeth come into the mouth at an overlap, or some kind of inopportune angle. This is most commonly seen in one’s front teeth or canine teeth; back teeth can also be crowded although probably less noticeable. During children’s normal development, crowding of the front teeth tends to be the worst between age 7 to 8, when the front adult teeth are coming in to replace the baby teeth. Since the adult teeth are bigger than those baby teeth, and yet the jaws are still growing, it’s not surprising that lots of kids exhibit some crowding at age 7-8 even if some of them eventually outgrow it at later ages. If kids already show signs of crowding or very little space in between their baby teeth at a young age, it is very likely that their crowding situation will worsen later on, since the eruption of the larger adult teeth can compound problems that have already arisen with a child’s baby teeth. While the most obvious issue related to crowded teeth is aesthetic, misaligned teeth can also lead to premature tooth/teeth wear, gum disease, and in rare situations jaw joint problems if crowded teeth cause bite issues. 

The good news is that this is a well-known problem with many available treatments. As many as 3 in 4 children have jaws which develop incorrectly, and early intervention can mean that much more expensive treatment can be avoided later in life.