What Causes a Buck Tooth?

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what causes a buck teeth

Buck teeth, also called malocclusion, is a dental disorder that leads to teeth misalignment or improper positioning. While the condition is usually developed in children in their growing years, adults, mostly the elderly, can also suffer from this condition. There are three types of this disorder, type I, II and III, depending upon the relative positions of the upper and the lower molars.

Problems Caused by Buck Teeth

Improper positioning of the teeth and the resulting jaw structure can lead to several health implications like defective chewing and speech impediments.

Overlapping of the molars over each other can lead to improperly chewed food. This affects the digestion, and the accumulation of the food in the gaps between the teeth causing conditions like plaque. This results in the decay of the tooth enamel, which may require surgery or filling if not taken care of. Teeth are as useful as your vocal chords in the generation and propagation of speech. With misaligned teeth, lisping conditions can occur, leading to the improper pronunciation of certain syllables like F or S.

Causes of Buck Teeth

Asymmetrical teeth, while a problem, are also causes of several other issues like off-balance teeth position, severe teeth misalignment, and a deformed jaw structure.

Because of the mismatch of some teeth, the positioning of the rest of the teeth gets affected. They either align themselves too close to each other, or they grow in different directions leaving vast spaces between them. This improper spacing can results in cases like overbite or open bite depending upon the type. The misalignment also affects the tooth enamel, resulting in its breaking. Dental fillings in North Edmonton and restoration techniques need to be applied to fix such damage. It can also expose gums and the roots of the teeth which bring about a lot of other dental issues with serious implications. A severe case of buck teeth affects the jaw structure too. This changes the bones in and near the jaws which can lead to arthritis, due to the unconventional friction between the bones.

Methods to Cure Buck Teeth

Crooked teeth can be fixed with or without braces and aligners. Depending upon the type and the positioning of the deformation, there are different types of braces available. A minor distortion can be fixed with invisible braces. A more severe case can be cured with braces made especially for buck teeth. This usually occurs when the teeth are or the jaw is restricted to any movement because of the improper positioning. Buck teeth in growing children can be fixed using such braces. With elder people, whose bone growth has stopped, orthognathic surgery is an option, where dentist near you operate to align the lower and the upper jaws.

The signs for buck teeth usually appear in childhood with habits like sucking on the thumb or can affect you later in life due to genetic reasons. However, it is crucial that you ask for help and consult a doctor for the same before the conditions can worsen.