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Sometimes teeth take a wrong turn as they are forming and get stuck and cannot erupt into a child’s mouth. This most frequently happens with 6-year-old molars and upper canines. If nothing is done early the six-year-old molars will eventually come in but in the wrong place and they will block out other permanent teeth from erupting. It can usually be fixed but can add an additional year to wearing braces during the teenage years when kids hate wearing braces at all. If detected early, the orthodontist can move the 6-year molars back into the correct spot avoiding a big problem later. The best way to spot these teeth is on a panoramic x-ray taken around age 6 years old which is when these teeth start taking their wrong turn.

Do you think your teeth are crooked?
Do you want to correct your bite to stop chipping your teeth?
Do you feel like you hide your teeth when you smile, but you don’t want to wear braces?

You have come to the right place! We are going to share with you the differences between traditional braces and Invisalign. Most people are familiar with braces but would love to avoid brackets and wires and be treated with a more esthetic alternative like Invisalign.

There are lots of kids who have a big space between their top two front teeth. Often this is no big deal and the space is something that will close naturally as the other permanent teeth erupt. But sometimes there is a very strong muscle (frenum) between a child’s front teeth that almost acts like a spring that is pushing their front teeth apart. If you go to a family reunion and everyone you look at (on your spouse’s side of the family of course) has the same large space as your child, you would be wise to come see your orthodontist.

Patients frequently ask Dr. King and Dr. McCune about the mission trips they go on. Dr. McCune actually convinced Dr. King to go on her first trip. She started on trips in high school, then continued through college and dental school, finally leading her dental school class trip the last two years. Dr. King kept thinking that there was nothing that she could do on a short term trip because she couldn’t put braces on someone then fly back home- as good as braces look on people, they probably don’t want them on forever.

We see so many more patients now who are congenitally missing teeth; sometimes just one, but frequently more than one. If you remember your 8th grade science class, missing teeth is an autosomal dominant trait which means only one parent has to have the gene for it to be passed down. We see more and more missing teeth with each generation. There is an old wives’ tale that missing teeth skip a generation; meaning if your mom was missing a tooth, you might not be but your child might. Those old wives were smarter than we give them credit for because this is exactly what I see in my office.

Frequently, moms and dads – worry about their kids' pacifier use. Am I using the right kind? Do they cause long term problems? When should I get rid of it? How do I do that?

Thank you for taking the time to visit our website and read our blog! We like to keep our patients up-to-date with what’s happening in the office, so check often for the latest posts.