 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
||
|
|
||
| - Background |
| - Introduction |
| - The Nodal Agency |
| - The Project Team |
| - Overview of Activities |
| - Project Director's Message |
|
|||||||||||||||
Malocclusion or crooked teeth affect almost 30%-40% of the child population. Many types of malocclusion are preventable such as those caused by faulty oral habits like thumb sucking, tongue thrusting and mouth breathing in children. Most other types of malocclusion, if diagnosed early, can be intercepted and treated by simple appliances. Clinical Features There can be excessive crowding or spacing between the teeth or the teeth may be placed abnormally forwards or backwards or abnormally rotated. Either the upper or the lower jaw may be placed abnormally forward or backward. Some-times, a defect in the form of a cleft may be present in the upper lip or plate or both. Causation of Malocclusion The most common cause of irregularity or crowding of teeth is premature loss of milk teeth due to dental caries or other reasons. Apart from this, a major part of child population has also bad oral habits causing abnormal pressure on the teeth and surrounding structures and ultimately leading to malocclusion. These habits are thumb sucking, tongue thrusting and lip biting etc.
Untoward Effects of Malocclusion Malocclusion can affect the appearance, personality and psychological well being of a child. Cases of cleft lip and palate suffer from difficulty in swallowing, speech and recurrent infections besides severely compromised aesthetics. Malocclusion may also lead to increased caries, periodontal diseases and tempero-mandibular joint problems. Severely forwardly placed upper front teeth may get traumatized with slightest hit or fall. Prevention of Malocclusion The best possible effort to prevent malocclusion will be keeping the milk dentition free from dental caries and discontinuation of bad oral habits as soon as possible. Dentist can help you by giving appliances for restriction of bad oral habits. Apart from this, planned extractions of over-retained milk teeth can be one of the options in certain cases. Treatment of Malocclusion Malocclusion can be treated by treatment using wires by an expert (orthodontist).
|
|
