What causes gapped teeth?
There are many causes of gapped teeth. These include:
Gum disease: If you have severe gum disease, this can result in damage to the jawbone and your teeth may become loose, causing gaps to appear
The loss of baby teeth: As these fall out, gaps can appear between a child’s teeth. These sometimes close as adult teeth appear or they can remain permanently
Oversized tissue in the gum: You have a type of tissue between your lip and gum known as ‘labial frenum’. If this is too large, it can cause a gap to form
Pushing your tongue against your front teeth or thumb sucking beyond the age of seven: This can put enough pressure on the front teeth to result in a gap
Alignment issues where your front teeth protrude past your lower teeth
Genetics: Gapped teeth can run in the family
Can gapped teeth cause oral health problems?
Generally, a gap between your teeth is nothing to worry about and many people like the look of a diastema. However, if you feel self-conscious about it, you may want to have orthodontic treatment for cosmetic reasons.
Most of the time, a gap in the teeth can be treated with braces, but there are some cases, for example if the gap is caused by oversized tissue, where you may require a minor operation such as a frenectomy to close the gap.
If you have gum disease, this will need to be treated by your general dentist before you can have any type of orthodontic treatment, or you may want to replace the failing teeth instead.
Which type of braces can fix gapped teeth?
Your orthodontist may discuss the following options with you:
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Fixed braces, which use brackets and wires to reposition your teeth. These can come in the form of traditional metal braces, or more discreet options such as clear ceramic braces or lingual braces
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Invisalign treatment or other types of removable braces, which uses clear aligners that you can take out to eat, drink or to brush your teeth