What Is the Right Age for Getting Dental Braces?

Parents are usually always concerned about the health of their children. They also take care of their dental health. If you look around, you may be able to see that many children have misaligned teeth. Parents of such children wonder about the best option to get the teeth of those children aligned. The most common and effective solution in this regard is the attachment of dental braces. Here, most of the parents ask about the best age at which the braces can be applied.

Main function of the braces

There are several issues which can be solved with the help of braces. Some of those problems include teeth crowding, missing or extra teeth, improper bite and tooth spacing. Certain misalignment issues can cause damage beyond the looks. Since misaligned teeth are hard to clean, they can have plaque buildup and, hence, they can suffer decay.

Visit to the orthodontist

The early signs of misalignment start appearing at the age of 7. Therefore, it is the right age to take your kid to the orthodontist if your child has started having these issues. Since teeth and jaws are developing at this age, it is going to be easier for the orthodontist to treat misalignment.

One thing worth mentioning here is that your child may not be comfortable about this visit to the orthodontist. But you can leave it up to the orthodontist to deal with the apprehensions of your child. A good orthodontist will first make every effort to make environment friendly for your child. Before the treatment starts, there are going to be dental x-rays tests conducted.

Types of misalignment

Typically, there are three types of misalignments that you need to watch out for.

• The first type of misalignment is not a severe one. The upper teeth barely overlap the lower teeth. This one is the most common type of misalignment.
• The second type of misalignment involves upper teeth severely overlapping the lower teeth. This misalignment is usually known as overbite.
• The third kind of misalignment involves protrusion of lower teeth beyond the upper teeth. This case is mostly referred to as under-bite. This one of the least common type of malocclusion.

Getting the braces

While you may be quick to decide about getting your child the dental braces, he may not be comfortable with the idea of having brackets attached to the teeth and a wire running through those brackets. But then, getting your child the braces at an early age can help him get the best smile in least possible duration. All you have to do is to tell your child about the benefits of braces. Tell them about the smile they are going to get after the braces are off.

Braces are also ideal for adults

Although the teeth at adult age are hard to move, braces still tend to provide desirable results no matter at what age. If you are an adult and you are worried about misalignment of your teeth, you can discuss this option of getting braces with your dentist.

How to Deal With the Dry Mouth at Night

You may be familiar with the situation when you had to get up during the night with a dry mouth. The reasons for dry mouth can range from being as simple as keeping the mouth open to the more complex one such as side effect of a medication or simply a byproduct of any health condition. Either way, mouth dryness is quite uncomfortable.

Signs and symptoms of dry mouth

You get the dry mouth when your salivary glands do not product enough saliva to keep your mouth moist. Saliva is very important as it washes away the food debris and re-mineralizes the tooth enamel. If you do not have enough saliva in your mouth, you may be at the risk of getting your teeth decayed.

Apart from the fact that lack of saliva can cause cavities, it can also cause discomfort in your mouth. There are a few signs that you can look at in order to know that you have the problem of having mouth dryness in the night.

• Bad breath
• Sore and dry throat
• Sticky saliva (which usually causes sticky feeling in the mouth)
• Cracked lips
• Sores in the mouth
• An unpleasant change of taste

What causes mouth dryness or xerostomia?

You don’t need to worry if you get mouth dryness occasionally. It can be simply due to dehydration. However, the consistency of this problem can suggest that you have an issue to resolve. Studies suggest that the major reason for consistent dry mouth may be the medication you are on. Muscle relaxants and anti-depressants are the typical medications which can result in dryness of mouth.

Moreover, there are some health conditions which can result in mouth dryness. Diabetes and the autoimmune disorder Sjogren's syndrome are the most common reasons for xerostomia. Cancer and its treatment can also turn out to be the disturbing reasons for dry mouth.

Bad oral habits such as tobacco and alcohol consumption can also result in the dryness of mouth. These bad oral habits can result in the damage to salivary glands, leading to the reduced production of saliva.

How to prevent mouth dryness

If your problem of mouth dryness is due to dehydration, you can get it covered by drinking a plenty of water throughout the day and before going to bed. This problem can also result by medications. In such situation, you will have to make sure that you do something to stimulate the production of saliva. Chewing sugar-free gum and using a bedroom humidifier can help in this regard.

You also need to get treatment for the root cause of the mouth dryness. If it’s the medication that’s causing mouth dryness, you can visit your dentist to discuss about those medications. If it’s a health condition which is causing xerostomia, you will need to get that condition treated.