One of the most influential contributors to a great smile is proper jaw growth and development. Properly developed upper and lower jaws create the best opportunity for correctly positioned and aligned teeth that enhance your smile. Unfortunately, many people believe that you inherit your jaw and facial development and have little influence on the outcome. Continue reading to learn how parents can change the shape of their child’s face with a few changes in their habits.
To learn more about how we can help you have the smile you want, schedule an appointment with Trident General Dentistry.
What Influences Facial Development?
While genetics plays a role in the growth and development of the jaws and facial bones, it is not the only factor. Some recent research shows that your heredity plays a much smaller role in the development of your face than previously thought. Three factors that significantly combine with your genes to influence your jaws and facial appearance are:
Proper resting tongue position.
Proper sealing of lips and teeth barely touching.
Proper breathing through the nose.
When these three factors are present, your jaws develop naturally to their optimal genetic potential. However, several negative factors can interfere with this process and lead to irregular development and appearance.
What Causes Improper Facial Development?
The three factors listed above allow your mouth to maintain a healthy resting posture for complete jaw development and tooth position. Conversely, the causes of a bad bite and less than ideal jaw and facial development include:
Mouth breathing. Mouth breathing pulls your chin downward and back to weigh down your facial muscles. This leads to the tongue resting lower in your mouth than its proper position up high in the roof of your mouth. This higher position is needed to stimulate sufficient jawbone growth.
See AlsoFacial AgingTongue resting between the teeth. As you can tell, the posture of your tongue during rest is critical for jaw development. This is because the tongue is a powerful muscle that can exert tremendous pressure on bones and teeth. This pressure needs to be applied to specific places in your mouth but can cause problems when incorrectlyplaced.
Improper resting oral posture. If your jaw hangs open instead of closed with your lips sealed, it can impede normal jaw development.
Unfavorable swallowing patterns. When the tongue is not positioned correctly, it affects the swallowing mechanism adversely. This leads to strained muscles, changes in tooth position, and a lack of correct stimulation of jaw bones to grow normally.
Excessive thumb or pacifier sucking. When a child sucks their thumb, it unduly flexes the cheek muscles, stunting jaw growth and development.
Genetics. This tends to be a minimal risk factor for insufficient jaw and facial development. The current research shows that environmental factors substantially outweigh hereditary factors.
When Does Your Jaw Stop Growing?
More than half of your facial growth occurs during your first four years. Although 90% of your facial bones complete development by age 12, your lower jaw continues to grow until approximately age eighteen.
The Health Benefits of a Healthy Jaw
In addition to a brighter and more attractive smile, there are several other benefits to having a healthy jaw and facial growth and development, such as:
Helping prevent sleep apnea.
Enhancing stress response.
Improving TMJ health.
Decreasing the possible need for orthodontics.
Augmenting proper airway development.
Schedule an Appointment
Having the smile you want is an integral part of our dental treatment plan. Contact us to learn more about jaw and facial development and how we can enhance your facial profile and smile at Trident General Dentistry.
