What Evolution Explains About Crowded Teeth, Say Dentists
It might seem like almost every child needs braces these days, and in a way, that is not far off. The reason has less to do with modern habits and more to do with something that changed generations ago: what we eat, and how hard we chew it.
At By The Lake Dental Kids, our dentists and dental team see the results of this shift every day, and understanding why it happens can help parents take crowding seriously long before it becomes a bigger problem.
Why Modern Jaws Are Too Small for Modern Teeth
For most of human history, people had to chew tough, unprocessed food to get enough calories, and that constant chewing stress stimulated the jawbone to grow thicker, longer and stronger, according to Popular Science. Modern diets, full of soft and processed foods, never put that same demand on the jaw. Teeth, on the other hand, still grow to the same genetically programmed size they always have. The result is a mismatch: a jaw that never got the workout it used to, trying to fit teeth sized for a jaw that did.
Why This Shows Up as Crowding Today
This mismatch is a big part of why crowded, crooked teeth and impacted wisdom teeth are so common now, even though ancient jaws generally had enough room for every tooth. It is not that today's children are somehow different from earlier generations. Their jaws simply are not being challenged the way earlier jaws were.
Catching It Early Makes a Real Difference
The Canadian Dental Association describes this approach as interceptive orthodontics, treatment that begins before all of a child's permanent teeth have come in, aimed at guiding growth rather than correcting it after the fact. About 75 percent of people, including adults, have some sort of teeth alignment issue, and catching the signs early tends to make treatment simpler down the road rather than more complicated.
When to Book That First Evaluation
At By The Lake Dental Kids, we recommend an orthodontic evaluation by age 7, as early detection allows for simpler and more effective treatment. Contact By The Lake Dental Kids, your favourite dental office in Ajax and Scarborough, and book your FREE ortho assessment today.
Why choose By The Lake Dental:
✅ +15 years caring for our community’s oral health needs
✅ A Platinum+ Invisalign dental office
✅ Direct billing to benefit provider
✅ Cutting-edge technology
✅ Full service family care
✅ Concierge experience
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Call us today: Ajax 905-428-2111, Highland Creek 416-284-8282.
By The Lake Dental is your family’s one-stop dental office for everything your smile needs, including children’s dentistry, cosmetic dentistry, tooth extractions, oral hygiene, dental implants, orthodontics and Invisalign, mouthguards, root canal therapy, tooth restoration, temporomandibular disorder treatment, and more!
