Can Crowded Teeth Get Worse?
Crowded teeth (also known as dental crowding) occur when the teeth begin to shift and grow out of place, sometimes overlapping onto each other. This can start at a young age, and it depends on the genetics or other reasons as to why their teeth are not growing in straight. Without dental intervention, the teeth can continue to grow out of place and begin affecting all the other teeth as well.
What causes dental crowding?
Dental crowding can be caused by a few factors, such as:
- Genetics- Being born with a small-jaw bone or larger-than-average teeth can affect the way your teeth will eventually grow into themselves. Both of these traits show a bone-to-tooth ratio that is too low, which causes the teeth to push into each other.
- Losing baby teeth prematurely- if the baby teeth are lost early on, it hinders the proper growth and alignment of the other teeth that are growing in.
- Extra adult teeth – when wisdom teeth start to grow in, it pushes at the already existing teeth there as it tries to make space for themselves. The pushing can cause the other teeth to shift into each other and eventually overlap.
What are some symptoms of dental crowding?
Dental crowding has both physical and mental symptoms that affect people. Some common symptoms of dental crowding can look and feel like this:
- Crossbite and teeth set at crooked angels along with teeth overlapping onto each other
- Tooth pain or discomfort when biting and chewing down into foods
- Difficulty brushing and flossing while having bleeding gums while flossing
- Jaw pain
- Too afraid to show their smile
What are the levels of dental crowding?
When it comes to crowding, it doesn’t just happen overnight. It takes time since it is your body growing something. It does start off small, but if left untreated, it can become more serious over time and even more expensive to fix. It is best to address dental crowding as soon as the first signs appear in hopes of stopping it early. Below are the stages of dental crowding and what they mean.
A mild crowding level is considered when only about one or two teeth in the front are just slightly slanted/rotated.
A moderate crowding level is when about two or three teeth in the front have rotated and have started to overlap each other.
Severe crowding level gets to the point where the back teeth start to overlap onto each other.
Dental crowding starts to show symptoms at a young age for some people; others get it at an older age, depending on the situation. What is most important is that when there are signs of dental crowding starting to form, contact your dental specialist and make an appointment. There, an X-ray can be taken and further examination as to why the crowding is happening and how to either stop it or correct it. If left to grow out of place, then the price of the procedure tends to go up with the more extensive work that needs to be done over time.
Related Article: Can Crowded Teeth Fall Out?