Anomalies of the teeth are various deviations from the norm, which can manifest themselves in functionality and appearance. Sometimes they are visible to the naked eye. And in some cases they can be found only at the doctor’s appointment. Deviations can be in the number, color, position of the teeth in the oral cavity, as well as abnormalities of teething (mainly in children). In this article, we will find out the causes of such violations and figure out how to deal with problems that arise in the oral cavity.
Dental pathology
Anomalies can be either congenital or acquired. Anomalies of individual teeth, as well as entire dentitions, may occur. Quite often bite anomalies are observed, which does not allow the dentition to function normally. Dentists made observations and found that almost every second child suffers from the presence of such anomalies, this problem is less common among adults.
Everyone knows that each tooth has its own individual characteristic: it must clearly correspond to its position, have a certain shape and color, and also fulfill its function. Any deviation from the accepted norms is regarded as a dental abnormality and needs treatment and correction. If you do not pay due attention to this issue (especially in childhood), then in the future you can encounter serious complications. Sometimes tooth abnormalities are not so easy to cure, and long-term therapy is performed for this. Some patients undergo therapeutic, surgical, orthodontic and orthopedic treatment to achieve a beautiful and healthy smile.
Causes of anomalies
There are many reasons for the development of anomalies in the dentition or an individual tooth, and experts divided them into two groups: endogenous and exogenous.
The first group includes factors of the genetic and endocrine level. As for the genetic traits, everything is clear here - this is primarily heredity. After all, a child can inherit from his parents the shape of the teeth and their size, the structure of the jaw, soft tissues and much more. And also such anomalies are among the congenital malformations and diseases that are inherited. Moreover, parents may not have any problems with their teeth, and the vice was transmitted from grandparents.
Further, it is worth paying attention to the endocrine order, which has a rather serious influence on the process of formation of the dentofacial system. A disease such as hypothyroidism leads to a delay in teething in children. Milk teeth can be replaced by molars much later than normal. In addition, there is adentia, deformation of the jaw, the shape and size of the teeth change. Such consequences can also be caused by diseases such as hypocorticism, hyperparathyroidism and others.
The group of exogenous causes includes several more subgroups: prenatal causes, intrapartum and postnatal, local and general:
- It is clear that prenatal factors have an effect even before the birth of a person in the light. Here, the appearance of congenital anomalies can be affected by: multiple pregnancy, when children do not have enough space in the mother’s stomach, fetal hypoxia, toxicosis at different stages of pregnancy, frequent stresses during gestation, amniotic cords, intrauterine growth retardation.
- Intranatal factors also accompany the baby before birth. This includes asphyxiation and entanglement of the umbilical cord, a long stay of the baby in the womb after the water has drained, intracranial injuries that occurred during the birth process.
- The postnatal period includes diseases that are inherent in the children's body: hypovitaminosis and rickets, even an insufficient presence of a child on the street can lead to dental problems, nasal breathing problems and much more.
Local factors follow. Pediatricians include here a long stay of a child with a pacifier, a child sucking his finger, artificial feeding and much more. And also tooth pathologies can occur after various injuries, due to the presence of a short frenulum under the tongue or on the upper lip. The cause of the anomalies can be complicated caries, due to which it is necessary to remove teeth at an early age. Some children have retarded or supernumerary teeth. This interferes with the normal location of the dentition and leads to abnormalities in the position of the teeth.
Various factors influence the color of our teeth. This may be smoking, eating foods with a high content of dyes, the presence of plaque. All these and many other factors lead to the fact that a person has an anomaly of the color of the teeth.
Pathologies related to quantity
Everyone knows that 32 teeth should be in the oral cavity, this is considered the norm. Anomalies in the number of teeth include their excessive number, as well as a lack or complete absence. The first problem is called hyperdontia, and it is characterized by the presence of supernumerary teeth that are not in the dentition, but outside it and strongly displace their neighbors to the sides, thereby changing their normal position to a pathological one. Supercomplete teeth can often be found in the upper rows, their size and shape do not match accepted standards. It rarely happens that a supernumerary tooth successfully squeezed into the dentition.
Such teeth must be removed without fail, since they violate the construction of the dentition. After their removal, the position of the permanent teeth is corrected, because they were greatly displaced during the formation of supernumerary teeth. To this end, orthodontic treatment is performed. If the patient is lucky and the extra tooth successfully fits in a row and does not interfere with the normal development of neighbors, then he can be left. It is only necessary to correct its shape to the correct one. And to do this is very simple with the help of prosthetics.
Tooth size
Anomalies in the size of the teeth are divided into macro- and microdentia.
In the first case, the visible parts of the tooth are too large, which do not coincide with the norm. This problem is most common with central upper incisors. Too large teeth can interfere with other teeth, they do not leave room for them and thereby spoil the overall appearance. In addition, teeth of this size have a bad effect on the harmony of facial features and are cosmetic deficiencies. It is impossible to cure them, so they are simply removed. After that, the correction of adjacent teeth is carried out, and the resulting defect is hidden by prosthetics or implantation.
Microdentia, in turn, is the excessively small visible parts of the tooth. In most cases, the upper lateral incisors suffer, but not a single tooth in the mouth is immune from such an anomaly. There are usually too large gaps between these teeth that distort the face greatly. You can simply remove the small teeth and replace them with dentures, but some express a desire to preserve their native teeth and simply cover them with crowns. Anomalies in the size and shape of the teeth are very closely interconnected.
Tooth shape
There are many types of anomalies in the shape of the teeth, but among them there are several of the most common: Hetchinson’s teeth, Pfluger’s teeth, spike-like, Fournier’s teeth.
The penultimate view has a non-standard feature - the spiky shape of the visible part of the tooth, resembling a cone or spike. Most often, supercomplete teeth have this appearance, as well as lateral and central incisors. Everyone else rarely grows like that.
Getchinson’s teeth are somewhat reminiscent of the shape of a screwdriver or barrel. This means that the neck of the tooth is much larger than its cutting edge, and a crescent-shaped notch extends along this edge. These most often grow the upper central incisors. Fournier teeth have the same appearance, but they do not have a notch.
Teeth Pfluger. Here, the neck predominates in size over the masticatory surface of large molars, which are the first in a row. And also here there is an underdevelopment of the hillocks on the sixes.
If one of these anomalies was detected, the doctor recommends prosthetics of diseased teeth or put veneers on them. And also you can simply remove irregularly shaped teeth and install dentures in their place. In some cases, restoration of teeth is allowed.
Hard tissue structure
This includes two types of hypoplasia (local and generalized), hyperplasia, amelogenesis and dentinogenesis:
- Perhaps it’s worth starting with hypoplasia. It manifests itself in the form of various spots, which are located symmetrically, pits and grooves that appear on the crown of the tooth. Such defects do not appear on individual teeth, but affect absolutely all rows. Quite often they are combined with anomalies in the shape of the teeth, their position, size and color.
- Hyperplasia is extra tubercles that can occur on the chewing surface of the tooth, as well as enamel drops.
- It happens so that yellow or brown pigmentation appears on the teeth - this is imperfect amelogenesis. With it, the thickness of the enamel also significantly decreases, the sensitivity of the teeth to cold and hot greatly increases. This anomaly quite often appears simultaneously with microdentia. You can cure this pathology. For this, the patient needs to take various multivitamins and minerals, the body urgently needs calcium glycerophosphate during this period. Remineralizing therapy can also be performed.
- And imperfect dentinogenesis, when there is a violation in the development of dentin of permanent and primary teeth. With such an anomaly, the teeth become amber-yellow or grayish-brown. In a short period they are erased, can be completely destroyed. You can solve the problem by installing crowns or veneers, some experts suggest performing dental implantation.
Tooth abnormalities
These are the most severe and serious deviations. With such an anomaly, the teeth usually occupy the wrong position, and this happens not only outside the dentition, but also inside it. Several types of irregular tooth position are distinguished at once:
- Distal position. In this case, the tooth is strongly displaced back from the dentition.
- Mesial position. In this case, the teeth, on the contrary, strongly fall forward.
- Vestibular position. This is said in the case when the teeth are located close to the lips or cheeks, depending on their type.
- Oral position. In this case, almost all teeth are strongly displaced deep into the oral cavity.
- Supraposition. Here the teeth can be located abnormally above the occlusal curve, as well as significantly lower than it, but in this case the anomaly will be called the infra-position.
- Tortoanomaly. One or more teeth can be deployed along a vertical axis. If some teeth change places, then this is called transposition.
To eliminate all these anomalies can be an orthodontist. This is not so difficult to do. Modern bracket systems and orthodontic appliances work real miracles in a short time.
Tooth color
Each tooth has its own optical characteristics, which include color, transparency and gloss of enamel. It is considered normal if the teeth have shades from white-blue to yellow. Moreover, bluish enamel is more fragile, in contrast to yellowish, which is famous for its strength.
If there are pathologies in the oral cavity, then the color of the teeth may change. They can turn pink, gray, brown, brown-black and even completely black. Such pigmentation can occur in the form of small spots on the enamel, and may have a diffuse character.
Before combating tooth color anomaly, it is necessary to establish the cause of its appearance. Since in some cases there is a need to correct systemic disorders. Treatment begins with the specialist conducting professional hygiene of the entire oral cavity, various methods of whitening tooth enamel can be used.
Diagnostics
To find out the nature of the anomaly of molars, sometimes you have to turn to various specialists who are not related to dentistry. This may be an endocrinologist, pediatrician, otolaryngologist and geneticist. Diagnosis of tooth anomalies is carried out only under the supervision of various specialists from the field of dentistry: orthodontist, periodontist, dentist, implantologist. A clinical examination is carried out here, the oral cavity is examined, the patient's face is examined. But besides this, a number of additional studies are necessary. Casts are taken from the teeth so that with the help of gypsum models it is possible to thoroughly study the characteristics of the tooth, jaw and only after that start the treatment of tooth abnormalities.
Prevention
Modern treatment methods allow you to get rid of almost any anomaly and maintain a beautiful and healthy smile for many years. But in order not to waste time and money on treatment, you can try to take preventive measures so as not to provoke the development of tooth abnormalities.
This prevention must be started from the moment when the child is in the womb. It is necessary to surround the baby with care and attention, monitor his condition, be less nervous, eat right and feed the born child with food that is designed specifically for his age. If any endocrine disorders are detected, they must be immediately corrected. And of course, regularly go to the dentist for a visit in order to conduct timely medical measures and not bring the teeth to a state where they are no longer subject to treatment.
Oral care
There are several basic rules, observing which, you can have healthy and beautiful teeth for many years.
- Teeth should be cleaned at least twice a day and at the same time use toothpaste containing fluoride in it. This substance perfectly fights plaque, which often causes tooth decay.
- You must use floss daily. With its help, you can remove plaque, which accumulates in the interdental space. If you do not do this on time, then it will turn into tartar.
- There is less food that contains large amounts of sugar and starch.
- Even if nothing bothers you, you need to go to the dentist regularly to exclude the presence of damage on the surface of the teeth.
Observing all these simple rules, you will have a beautiful smile and healthy teeth.