What should I do if my child has crooked teeth?

When children are five or six years old, they are in the stage of changing teeth. The stage of changing teeth is very important for children. The newly grown teeth will accompany the children throughout their lives and are related to many aspects of the children. Although health care and care during the period of changing teeth are very important, the children are likely to have uneven teeth at this time. So how should we parents solve the problem of uneven teeth of children?

Note 1: Whether the deciduous teeth are retained or lost early

There is a certain time and order for the shedding of deciduous teeth. Deciduous teeth that should fall out but don't are called retained deciduous teeth, and the consequence is often that permanent teeth cannot erupt in the normal position. Most children begin to change their teeth at the age of five or six, some start at the age of four, and some children may not lose their first deciduous tooth until the age of seven. Tooth loss usually starts with the two lower front teeth, followed by the two upper front teeth.

The most common situation is that the lower front permanent teeth grow on the inside of the deciduous teeth, and the upper front permanent teeth grow on the outside of the deciduous teeth, making it look like double-layer teeth. What should you do in this situation? You should take your child to the hospital as soon as possible to remove the retained deciduous teeth and make room for the permanent teeth to erupt.

If the deciduous teeth fall out before they should, it is called premature loss of deciduous teeth. This often causes the adjacent teeth on both sides to tilt toward the gap between the missing teeth, making the gap smaller and causing the permanent teeth to erupt out of place due to insufficient space. At this time, a gap maintainer (custom-made by the hospital's dental department) should be worn in the gap between the deciduous teeth to prevent the teeth on both sides from tilting, so as to maintain the proper eruption position of the permanent teeth until the permanent teeth erupt.

Note 2: Is there any difficulty in the eruption of permanent teeth?

If the deciduous teeth fall out prematurely, the child will get used to chewing and licking with the gums, which will become thick and hinder the eruption of permanent teeth. Therefore, if your child has reached the age of replacing teeth but the permanent teeth have not yet grown, you should take your child to the hospital for examination in time to get the doctor's help. Calcium deficiency in children is also an important reason for the delayed eruption of permanent teeth. Parents should supplement their children with calcium in time.

As children grow older, they should eat more chewy foods, which will stimulate their deciduous teeth and help them fall out on time. After their deciduous teeth fall out, they should eat less hard food to keep their teeth neat. They should also be given more foods such as corn or apples in their diet.