Braces were an innovative and industry-morphing development in dentistry and they quickly became so popular that today we think nothing of a pre-teen or teenager getting braces as it’s completely normal. However, braces aren’t without their flaws and some of the biggest negatives to getting braces for your child includes the high cost of getting them, many more dentist appointments over the next year, and a potentially lower self-esteem if your child is concerned about the way braces look. Although the common way today to deal with crooked teeth is to get braces around your teenage years, if you start keeping an eye on your child’s oral health much earlier than that you may be able to have them avoid braces completely. In this article I’ll discuss some of the most important things you can do to prevent your child from needing braces in the future:
Schedule More Dentists Appointments at an Early Age
During and shortly after your child loses their baby teeth, it’s important to follow up with a dentist to make sure that your child’s permanent teeth are growing in properly and aligned. Anywhere from ages five to eight is a good point to start increasing visits because this age could be very crucial in the future. Make sure to take your child to the dentist at least twice a year, but if you’re concerned about them having to get braces in the future an extra visit or two wouldn’t hurt.
Don’t Leave a Loose Baby Tooth Around for Too Long
Some people, especially first time parents may be tempted to let baby teeth naturally fall out once they’re loose, but that has the potential to cause problems in the future. While it also isn’t a good idea to pull out a baby tooth by force before it’s ready, leaving it in for too long can cause serious alignment issues later on. Sometimes the permanent tooth will start to grow while the baby tooth remains and the result is that the permanent tooth grows in misaligned. If you’re concerned about your child’s baby teeth that hasn’t naturally fallen out yet, give the dentist a call and get them to take a look.
Don’t Let Your Child Sleep on their Stomach
We get into our sleep habits at an early age and many of those can persist for the rest of our lives, so it’s important to make sure you teach your child proper sleep habits as soon as possible. Relevant to us, sleeping on your stomach with your face pressed on the bed or pillow has actually been linked to potentially causing crooked teeth. The constant pressure isn’t good for your child’s teeth, especially if their permanent teeth are growing in. Many children do sleep on their stomachs, so for this and other health reasons you should try to get them adjusted to sleeping on their back or side.
All in all, there are going to be a multitude of factors involved when we talk about whether or not your child will need braces or not. The tips above should help you hopefully prevent them from dealing with braces while also saving you all the bills that come with braces.
