Should You Be Concerned About Gaps Between Teeth?

What do gaps between teeth mean for your dental health?

Gaps between teeth can cause dental concern because food may get trapped between your teeth. When this happens, it can lead to plaque buildup, and you become more prone to tooth decay or gum disease.

When flossing, you’ll need to take extra care. Make sure that your floss swipes each side of each tooth.

What Causes Gaps Between Teeth?

Children who still have their baby teeth often have gaps. Why? Their jaws are larger than the space their baby teeth are filling. Sometimes as adult teeth grow in to replace baby teeth, they fill the gaps.

The name for gaps between your two front teeth is “diastema.” Sometimes diastema occurs when the tissue that grows between the upper teeth to the gum continues to grow. As it grows, it extends between the two front teeth. The tissue can block and prevent the front teeth from closing together.

Gap-toothed Women

In this day and age people are sometimes more concerned about their appearance than anything else. Many people pay for orthodontic work because they want to have a beautiful smile. Even so, what one particular culture views as beautiful may be completely different in another culture.

In the article “There is beauty in a gap-tooth” the author discusses Nigerian culture. People in Nigeria consider that women are more beautiful when they have a gap between their two front teeth.

Until recently, gap-tooth individuals were always candidates for orthodontic treatment. But Lauren Hutton, Madonna and models such as the beautiful gal in the gap-tooth article have changed some people’s opinions about gap-teeth.

Les Blank created a documentary in 1987 called Gap-Toothed Women. You can watch a short clip of it on Youtube and see what you think.

Should You Keep Your Gap or Get Rid of It? Do You Have Questions About Your Dental Care?

At Hutto Hippo Family Dental, our dentists can help you take good care of your teeth and gums.