Crossbite: What You Need to Know

crossbite

When a child is brought to the dentist, braces may be the last thing parents expect to hear about.  Many do not know that even kids as young as three or four can be diagnosed with a crossbite, and if that’s the case, parents should be prepared to hear about braces, retainers, and sagittal expanders.  But before those orthodontic appliances are discussed, you are probably wondering – what is a crossbite and what should be done about it?  Here are the answers.

 

What Is a Crossbite?

A crossbite can involve just a single tooth or several teeth on either side of the mouth (or even both). If any of your or your child’s tooth or several teeth lay closer to the tongue or cheek instead of standing together evenly, you probably have a crossbite.

 

What Can Be Done About It?

The dental industry is still divided into two sides when the topic is the right time to initiate crossbite treatment. Some suggest that treatment should start as soon as a diagnosis is made, which can be as early as three years old. Others say that parents should wait at least until a child’s molars come out. But even with the difference of opinion regarding when treatment should be done, all dental professionals agree that crossbite is not a condition that should be left untreated. Why? Because it presents a number of complications that include gum and tooth wear, temporomandibular joint disorder, and even facial asymmetry.

 

What Is the Treatment Like?

Crossbite treatment aims for the bite pattern to match evenly on all sides, and that involves adjusting how a child’s teeth are spread using dental appliances. It can be done using dental expanders which are similar to orthodontic retainers. They include a screw that you can tighten every night to “spread” a child’s bite to the width prescribed by the dentist. Other options like dental headgear, clear aligners, and braces may also be used, usually when a single tooth is out of alignment.

 

Crossbites are generally considered as a genetic condition, so they are not that common. But if your child happens to have it, know that it is imperative that crossbite is treated before it can permanently affect your child’s oral and facial development. That’s why if your visit to the dentist leads to a discussion about your child having a crossbite and needing to wear a dental expander, don’t just shrug it off. Learn more about it and the necessary treatment to address this problem.

 

Have your child scheduled for a dental check up with Dr. Marvin Lean at Pickering Square Dental. He can tell if your child has a crossbite and offer you the best treatment approach possible.

How Eating Disorders May Affect One’s Teeth

Worried girl standing in front of mirror

Eating disorders affect young girls about ten times more than men. These disorders either involve a constant preoccupation with (junk) food or a much-distorted idea of a good body image and eventually, extreme measures taken just to control weight.  It is because of these excessive measures that one’s physical and mental health is greatly harmed.

 

But did you know that eating disorders like anorexia nervosa and bulimia can wreak havoc in your mouth?  In fact, just in the first few years of these illnesses, teeth can get worn and cracked. This kind of damage is caused by frequent vomiting.  Of course, when food is restricted like with anorexia, it can also have harmful effects on a person’s teeth.

 

Damages to the teeth that are linked to eating disorders are often indicative of chemical and mechanical wear. The enamel can be eroded by excessive acid that comes from different origins in the body. It can get thinner and as time passes by, the dentine which is very sensitive gets exposed. This situation is aggravated by inappropriate brushing, abrasive food, and even teeth attrition. Where the damage is worst is an indication of the cause.

 

For example, the damage that is caused by vomiting often affects the back of the teeth and at the gum line around the incisors, because those areas are where the stomach acid comes into contact with.

 

Patients with bulimia may also be exposing their teeth to gastroesophageal reflux during the night, which means the damage happens even as the person is sleeping and unaware of it. Acid reflux damage is often found around one side of the jaw, depending on the sleep position. Of course, the front teeth can be damaged when a person drinks a lot of acidic beverages. In extreme cases of anorexia, the gums recede too much and expose the roots of the teeth to acid and your damaging tooth brushing action.

 

How Can Patients Stop the Damage?

While still battling these eating disorders, it is highly recommended that the patient rinses his or her mouth with tap water after vomiting. Wait for about 20 minutes before brushing. You can also do this after eating or drinking food and beverages that are acidic.

 

When brushing your teeth, make sure that you do it vertically, starting from the gum line to the ends. The bristles of the toothbrush should reach between the teeth. Choose a non-abrasive toothpaste.   

 

You can give us a call at 905-420-1777, and we’d be happy to schedule you for a check-up. We’d like to help you achieve a better oral health and a more beautiful smile!

Sports Mouth-Guards vs Night-Guards

Smiling Woman with silicone trainer. Invisible braces

If you are affected by bruxism, there are a few remedies that you can try to resolve the problem. Of course, the most popular is a dental night guard. While it’s not really a guaranteed solution (it may stop your habit of teeth grinding), it can definitely help you prevent any possible damages to your teeth. You can wear one before you sleep and it will absorb all the clenching and grinding that you do when you’re asleep. You can find off-the-shelf night guards, but one that is custom-made by a dentist would be better. While also customized by a dentist, you should not confuse a night guard with a sports mouth-guard.  Not only are they made of different materials.  Each also serves its own purpose in the mouth that is different from the other.

 

A Closer Look at the Materials Used

Like we’ve already mentioned, a night-guard is designed to protect one’s teeth and jaw structures from the damaging effects of clenching and grinding during sleep. It is fabricated with a material that is not that thick but is durable enough to perform its function well.

 

A sports mouth-guard, on the other hand, is often made with a thicker and more rubbery material, and because of the purpose it serves, it extends to cover the entire jaw and gum tissue, so the entire mouth will be safe.  If you are an athlete and you are going to have a mouth guard made, you can choose to incorporate the colour of your team or even its logo.  Often, sports-guards are fabricated in such a way that they look like they’re part of the team uniform.  Different dyes are used to incorporate various colours.

 

How They Function

Both a sports mouth-guard and a night guard are made to protect your teeth. But they do it in different ways. A regular night guard protects the surface of the teeth from being worn down by grinding and clenching. On the other hand, athletes wear sports mouth guards primarily to protect their teeth in case of a hard and sudden impact. Therefore, a night guard, which is often made from acrylic plastic, is durable enough to withstand extended periods of grinding. A sports mouth-guard is often made from a softer material. This way, it can absorb force and sudden impacts. Also, a dental night guard just covers the occlusal surface of the teeth while a sports mouth-guard covers both gums and teeth.

 

Choose the Right Kind of Mouth-Guard

There are sports mouth-guards that are available commercially at some sports stores.  But they are different from the custom-made ones that are offered by Dr. Lean.  Needless to say, off-the-shelf appliances are both uncomfortable and not as effective as a dentist’s customized sports mouth-guards.  Of special note, annually, Dr. Lean and his partner attend the Toronto Maple Leafs training camp and make their professional mouth-guards which are available to our own patients, too.

 

The same goes with dental night-guards.  Those that are dentist-prescribed are of the higest quality and custom designed and fit for your personalized needs compared to pre-made stock sized over-the-counter appliances.  So, if you wear your sports-guard to combat the effect of bruxism instead of a night-guard, that is a compromised decision and we do not advise it.  It is still better to wear a night guard that is made exactly for that purpose.

 

You can always contact Pickering Square Dental if you have any inquiries about our sports-guards, mouth-guards, grinding appliances or night-guards.  Call us today!