Children and adults have different dental formulas, leading to various orthodontic issues. In children and adults, the orthodontic problem differs due to the differences in bone density, dental development, teeth tissue growth, and jawbone growth. Below we look at how these differences cause different orthodontic issues in children and adults.

BONE DENSITY

Children have a soft bone density than dense-density in adults. While performing the orthodontic treatment, moving the teeth back to their original position becomes challenging. On the other hand, the children’s soft bone density is fragile and easy to fracture and break, thus making it also challenging to perform an orthodontic procedure. Thus, the orthodontist must effectively perform the treatment procedures with great precision to avoid creating more dental problems.

JAW GROWTH

Children have developing jaw growth, allowing the dental orthodontist to perform the orthodontic treatment to correct any orthodontic issues such as jaw size and positioning problems. However, jaw growth is permanent for adults, meaning it has stopped growing; hence, fixing orthodontic problems related to the jaw becomes challenging.

The mature jaw in adults may break while on treatment leading to severe pain in the adult. Thus, the orthodontist recommends performing the treatment early to avoid such issues.

DENTAL DEVELOPMENT

A child’s teeth, tissue, and jaw are developing compared to adults who are no longer in the development phase. Thus, its more straightforward to correct problems such as sleep apnea, biting occlusion, and teeth misalignment in a child than in an adult with a completely mature dental development.

Due to this dental development factor, the treatment options for a child may include interceptive treatment. In contrast, adults may require complex ones such as orthognathic surgery to fix orthodontic issues.

It is, therefore, necessary to speak to your orthodontist to determine the treatment available in handling any orthodontic issues present in a child or an adult. For the best treatment selection options for handling orthodontic matters for a child or an adult, consult our orthodontist at the nearest dental clinic near you.