If you suffer from crooked or gapped teeth, you may be very self conscious of it and not smile a lot because of what you believe others may be thinking of you. You will be pleased to know that there are a wide range of treatments available to treat this issue we can fix this condition. The gap, usually between the two upper front teeth, may close by itself when your permanent eye teeth come in but you will need a dentist’s help with it if it does not.
In the womb, we all have little strings of tissue (called Fraenula) found underneath the tongue, inside the cheeks near the back teeth and under the top lip which help to position the baby teeth. One cause of gapped teeth is if these little strings happen to have an abnormality and the baby teeth do not position properly.
Causes of Gapped Teeth:
- Natural Development – teeth are normally gapped when they first come through and the eye teeth will usually close this gap
- Missing Teeth – some children are born with one or two teeth missing in their jawbones and this can cause gapping
- Small Teeth – if children have small teeth, this can cause gaps
- Large Jaws – some jaws are relatively large compared to the size of the teeth
- Extra Teeth – some people have extra teeth in the bone that are unable to come out as they are in between the erupted teeth
- Lingual Fraenum – this is when the little string of tissue under the tongue is limited in use and may cause a gap
At your consultation appointment, Dr Chai will be able to advise you on what cosmetic or orthodontic treatment is necessary for gapped teeth when your child is about 10 or 11 years old. Some of the available treatments are:
- Bonding – if the gap is small, veneers that are just a little wider than the teeth are bonded to the tooth surfaces
- Dental Veneers – veneers are thin porcelain plates that are glued to the surface of your teeth
- Removable Appliance – such as a plate
- Fixed Appliance – such as braces
- Invisalign – invisible braces
- Frenectomy – surgery to remove the tiny string of tissue once the gap is closed
Gapped teeth is a very common situation which can be easily treated with many various options – to book a free discreet, no obligation consultation call our clinic at: 1-877-283-0497.