Early Braces Prevent Tooth Injury

One of the front teeth (Fig.1: F) of a 12-year-old boy has a small chip caused by a bike accident, because this front tooth is sticking out (Fig.2).  After braces (Fig.3,4), the chip is repaired to perfection (Fig.3 *).  It appears that the chip is not a big deal.  Three years later, the tooth develops an infection (Fig.5,6 arrowheads), which needs root canal treatment (Fig.7).  Therefore the bike accident could be severe.  The front tooth erupts at the age of 7.  If the crooked tooth is fixed with braces early, the bite accident might not cause the severe injury.

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Xin Wei, DDS, PhD, MS 1st edition 01/07/2017, last revision 01/07/2017