When teeth break through the gum line, they are erupting. Ideally, all your teeth fully erupt from under the gum line. However, there are many reasons this doesn't happen. Teeth that don't fully erupt may be completely hidden under the gum line, or they may only partially pierce the skin.
Not only does this affect the beauty of your child's smile, but it can lead to infection and pain. If you would like to know more about teeth that don't fully erupt, keep reading to check out these three reasons why this dental condition happens.
1. Crooked Teeth
If your child's primary teeth are crooked, their permanent teeth may also grow crooked. This is because the primary teeth are supposed to help provide a path for the permanent teeth to follow as they grow. However, if that path is crooked, the teeth may twist, turn, move, etc., and in severe cases, this can lead to teeth that don't fully erupt.
In some cases, you can't prevent crooked teeth, but there are some habits that increase the risk of causing crooked primary teeth. These include thumb sucking, bottle use, tongue thrusting and mouth breathing.
If you don't help take care of your child's primary teeth, it increases the risk of tooth decay and tooth loss. Once the tooth is gone, the path for the permanent tooth may disappear, increasing the risk of complications with permanent teeth.
In some cases, patients' teeth start to grow at a strong angle, causing them to grow into other teeth. This increase the risk of damage to both teeth, but it can also cause irritation and pain.
2. Limited Jaw Space
Limited jaw space is one unpreventable reason teeth may grow crooked, but it can also prevent some teeth from fully erupting. In the past, human ancestors needed big jaws with plenty of teeth for properly biting, tearing and chewing raw meats and vegetables.
Once humans started cooking food, however, the food became easier to eat. As a result, human mouths began to shrink. For this reason, some people simply don't have enough room in their mouth for all their teeth. Some may get trapped under the gun line. In other cases, the tooth pay be forced to grow in an awkward position that makes it only partially erupt.
If there isn't enough room in the mouth for all the teeth, the impacted teeth may need to be removed. In fact, before placing braces, many patients have to have some teeth removed, so the finished smile is straight and beautiful.
3. Genetic Disorders
In some cases, your child's permanent teeth aren't erupting because they aren't there. Some genetic disorders result in missing permanent teeth, such as ectodermal dysplasia. Since it's genetic, someone else in your close family likely also has the condition.
Treatment for missing teeth depends on the number and location of missing teeth. If your child is missing several front teeth, you'll probably want to look into tooth-replacement options, such as a dental bridge, partial denture, or implant.
In some cases, your dentist may be able to fix your child's teeth with braces. However, if there are too many missing teeth, this could end up giving your child's smile a lot of gaps. With only a few missing teeth, however, the dentist can reposition the teeth to make the smile look complete.
If your child's teeth aren't fully erupting, there may be an underlying problem. Teeth trapped under the gum line may need to be removed to prevent future infections and cyst development. If you would like to know more about erupting teeth and how to fix non-erupted teeth, contact us at Treasured Smiles Pediatric Dentistry today.