Orthodontists deal with both the appearance and function of teeth. While your daughter’s teeth may be straight, your dentist may be concerned with their function both in the short and long term.

The upper and lower teeth need to bite in a certain way to provide optimal function. If functional alignment is not achieved, your daughter could have ongoing issues such as:

• Affected chewing and speech
• Excessive and uneven tooth wear that can lead to cracks requiring fillings, crowns or extractions
• Jaw joint pain
• Tenderness of the head and neck muscles and associated headaches
• Asymmetrical growth of the face

Your dentist may also be concerned about issues such as crossbites, missing permanent teeth or impacted teeth that all require specialist attention.

An orthodontic assessment could assist in the prevention of these issues by treating functional problems whilst maintaining your daughter’s straight teeth.

Melizza Ferdinands
Oral Health Therapist
BOH UniMelb