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Many qualities and properties of a person, both physical and psychological, are inherited. But is this statement relevant when it comes to the health of teeth and gums? Can bad heredity cause dental problems? Says dentist Vladimir Shipkov.
Most dysfunctions, diseases, pathologies of the dentition and oral cavity do not arise due to heredity. However, the genetic factor plays an important role in matters of beauty, functionality and dental health.
Beautiful healthy teeth or vice versa, crooked, dark and painful, like those of older relatives, is by no means a myth. So what to expect from genes when it comes to dentistry?
Bite
In medicine, it is defined as the relationship of closed jaws. Normally, they are positioned for effective biting and chewing. If the lower jaw strongly protrudes forward, or vice versa, is abnormally displaced backward, there is a malocclusion. One of the reasons for such biases may be genetics.
Incorrect bite should not be ignored, as it leads to poor digestion and premature erasure of enamel. In addition, such a pathology distorts facial features, making it disproportionate.
Today, you can correct the wrong bite not only with the help of braces. It is much faster and more comfortable to do this through invisible caps.
Periods of eruption and loss of teeth
Normally, the replacement of milk teeth with permanent teeth begins at the age of 5-6 years. It happens that the indicators vary depending on individual characteristics. A year or two in both directions, as a rule, is not considered a deviation. It’s just heredity. How long the teeth will serve the owner is also largely determined by genetic factors, but not only by them.
Unlike eruption, the speed of which is almost impossible to influence, the longevity of natural teeth depends on us. A complete diet, regular hygiene (both home and professional), timely visits (at least once every six months) to the dentist will help to keep your teeth for a long time.
Size, shape, position of teeth
The jaw size, shape and number of teeth of primitive man were very different from those of modern man. And the reason for this was the food that people ate in ancient times: raw meat, cereals in a rough shell, bark.
In the process of evolution, human teeth have become smaller, their size has decreased, but genetics still determines their physical parameters. How big, small, rare and sharp teeth you get depends on what kind of teeth your ancestors had.
However, this does not mean at all that you need to put up with what you inherited. Modern dentistry has a wide range of tools, techniques and equipment to help you achieve your dream teeth.
Эмаль
Its thickness, composition and even shade also depend on genetic characteristics. They affect not only the external attractiveness of the teeth, but also their health. Normally, the thickness of the enamel should be in the range of 1,6-1,7 mm on the chewing surface.
If the actual parameters are less, for the enamel it is fraught with premature abrasion, and for the teeth – the appearance of caries. Those who naturally got thin enamel with a bluish tint should not despair. With the help of remineralization and lamination procedures, various types of dental overlays (crowns, veneers, lumineers), this moment can be easily compensated.
The composition of saliva and the microflora in the mouth
There are about 700 different bacteria in the oral cavity at the same time, in total there are hundreds of millions of them. Not all of them are good for us. The balance of beneficial and pathogenic microflora is largely due to heredity, in particular due to saliva, which can have different levels of acidity and contain different amounts of mineral and organic components.
Properly selected toothpaste and rinse can not only effectively protect teeth from caries. With their help, you can create a favorable environment for the reproduction of beneficial bacteria and suppress the excessive activity of pathogenic microflora. Only a dentist can determine which means will be optimal after an examination.
As you can see, genes are very important in matters of beauty and dental health, but they have long ceased to play a decisive role. Today, there are practically no dental diseases, pathologies and dysfunctions that dentists could not eliminate.
Curvature of any complexity and scale, severely damaged teeth and even complete adentia (absence of teeth) are no longer considered something out of the ordinary and can be corrected.
Moreover, modern technologies allow you to solve dental problems quickly (it is now possible to carry out restoration, make and install an overlay, and even a tooth in just an hour) and absolutely painlessly (today computer anesthesia and sleep treatment are actively used), but on condition that you contact the respectable dental center.
About the Developer
Vladimir Shipkov — dentist, owner and chief physician of the Dr. SHIPKOV dental clinic. His .