What is the cause of my child's "buck" or crooked teeth?

THE CAUSE OF CROOKED TEETH
AND A BAD BITE

A recent publication by H. David Hall, MD, DMD, Professor and Chairman, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Vanderbuilt University School of Medicine, stated that:

Displacement of the TMJ disc within its joint causes degenerative osteoarthritis and it is more severe in growing children than in adults.

Most instances of deficient growth of the lower jaw (receding chin) is due to TMJ disc displacement rather than genetic inheritance from the mother or father. "Buck" and/or crooked teeth are not due to "Mommy's" small teeth and "Daddy's" big teeth. It is due to lack of growth of the lower jaw in a child due to disc displacement or osteoarthritic breakdown of the jaw bone in a non-growing adult making it smaller.

Quoted an MRI study (Schellhas et. al) of 60 children with "buck" teeth showing that 93% of them had a displaced disc and late stage osteoarthritis of the jaw bone.

The message here is obvious. If your child has a malocclusion causing unsightly teeth, it is most likely caused by a preexisting pathological process that should be treated prior to straightening teeth. If your child is already under orthodontic treatment but is having popping and clicking jaws, pain, can't open his/her mouth fully, etc., talk to the treating orthodontist and see what can be done. To ignore existing pathology in a child is to undergo this treatment in vain, have the teeth collapse back to their original positions in subsequent years and to need to go through orthodontic treatment a second time as an adult.

All patients (and dentists) with children (or patients) of orthodontic age should be aware of the intimate association of TMJ dysfunction and malocclusion. Summertime is the time to get your children checked out!

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