In one of our recent blogs we explained what crowding is and that crowding can be divided into two different types “primary” and “secondary” crowding depending on the cause.
Primary crowding is of genetic origin and is simply that the dentition (the total size of the teeth)is too big for the size of the jaws.
Secondary crowding is crowding that occurs as a result of early loss of the deciduous ( baby) teeth. The deciduous (baby ) teeth hold the space for their permanent successors. When the deciduous teeth are lost before the succeeding permanent teeth are ready to erupt, the space for the permanent tooth to erupt into maybe “stolen” as other permanent teeth drift forwards.
We try to avoid losing baby teeth to prevent “secondary crowding”.
When a deciduous tooth is lost prematurely the permanent tooth behind the extraction site moves forward and steals the space of the uneupted permanent tooth.
The permanent tooth moves forward into the extraction site and has stolen some of the space which the unerupted permanent tooth above requires.
Upper second premolar is now blocked out of the arch and cannot erupt into a normal position.
When a baby tooth is lost prematurely it can cause secondary crowding. This will often necessitate orthodontic treatment to correct it. If it is possible to keep the baby teeth and prevent their very early loss this problem will be avoided.
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Clonmel Orthodontics blog.
This blog was written by Dr John Buckley, Clonmel’s most qualified and most experienced orthodontist. We use cutting edge technology in Clonmel Orthodontics to provide excellent orthodontic treatment at affordable prices. Our surgeries are airy spacious and private , like you might expect if you visit a general medical practitioner. Remember orthodontics is about what happens in your mouth.
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