Dental crowding is the amount of space a tooth needs to function correctly. For a healthy adult, the minimum space needed for an unerupted tooth is 2 mm. Unfortunately, most adults have a greater amount of variance than that. Without enough space, teeth can become exposed or develop crooked roots. Crowding is common in individuals who have either crowded teeth or rotten teeth. In these cases, root canals are often needed to save the tooth and prevent further damage.
Understanding what dental crowding means is important to understanding how it affects your oral health and facial appearance. Crowding occurs when teeth are too crowded in a person’s mouth. This can compromise the ability of your teeth to function correctly. It is also associated with several conditions, some of which can be severe and cause serious damage.
Crowding tends to occur when there is an improper amount of space in the mouth as well as a lack of wisdom teeth that would provide extra space for the other teeth to fit into.
What Causes Dental Crowding?
Tooth decay and overbite:
A defect in the jaw that allows for improper space between teeth often causes tooth crowding, commonly referred to as “overbite” or “under-bite”. Overbite can be fixed with orthodontics and under-bite is often fixed with jaw surgery.
Oral hygiene habits:
Proper oral hygiene habits are necessary for a healthy mouth and prevent dental crowding. To ensure a proper amount of space, brush your teeth at least three times per day (two minutes each time) using an instructive tooth brushing technique that helps prevent plaque buildup on the gum line and leads towards healthy gums.
Rotten teeth:
Rotten teeth are often the result of tooth decay, which is caused by food and plaque left behind in the mouth. When these materials start to rot, they cause inflammation that can affect all your teeth and cause crowding.
What are the symptoms of dental crowding?
Pain:
Excessive tooth pain is often a symptom of crowding, as teeth may be too small to fit together properly and cause significant discomfort in them.
Infection:
Crowded teeth can cause infections in the mouth due to complications with the way that they fit together, leading to pain and discomfort or even requiring root canals or other treatments to fix.
Damage:
Crowded teeth also can cause damage to the bones and gums in your mouth, creating areas of inflammation that can lead to serious infections.
What are the treatments for dental crowding?
Oral health care:
In order to prevent crowding from occurring, practicing good oral hygiene is important and encourages healthy teeth. In addition, some types of toothpaste and dental floss can aid in proper oral care.
Wisdom teeth extraction:
Up to 80% of people have an improper amount of wisdom teeth space in their mouth and may need to have them extracted for this reason. Wisdom teeth are the last molars growing in your mouth that typically start to make their appearance at age 17 but can occur at any time between the ages of 16 or 20. Most often, wisdom teeth don’t have adequate space to grow properly and are impacted, which means that they grow at a grinding angle. This can cause pain hospitalharrywilliams.org and infections in or near the wisdom teeth, as well as crowding of other teeth if they are allowed to remain.
Braces:
Orthodontics can be used to fix improper spacing caused by crowding. Braces are typically paired with wisdom teeth extractions, so that any remaining space is immediately reoccupied by the braces once the wisdom teeth have been removed. This prevents the crowding from occurring or getting worse, allowing the other teeth in the mouth to start to align more easily.
Invisalign:
Invisalign is a clear dental treatment option that adults and children alike can use. It is an alternative solution to braces that typically requires less time for the patient and results in a straighter smile after completion.