Yes, that is what Drs. George Arraj, Giampiero Rossi‐Fedele and Esma J. Doğramacı reported in their article “The association of overjet size and traumatic dental injuries—A systematic review and meta‐analysis” that has been published in the May 2019 issue of Dental Traumatology.

This study confirms that young children who have teeth that stick out more than 3 mm have a more than three times higher chance of trauma than children without protruding teeth.  While older children who have teeth that protrude more than 5 mm have more than double the chance of trauma.

While the number of traumatic dental injuries has fallen recently, dental injuiries still have significant physical, psychological and economic consequences.  Worldwide, Traumatic dental injuries are the fifth most prevalent disease or injury and their subsequent management is costly.

When young teeth are broken or knocked out, long term issues may occur.  For example, some issues may be the need for root canal treatment or eventual tooth loss which require a lifetime commitment for dental treatment.  If orthodontic treatment is carried out on previously injured teeth, further complications may occur during orthodontic treatment that could lead to the loss of those teeth.

A dentist can simply measure how far a child’s teeth stick out and recommend whether a mouthguard is sufficient to protect the teeth or if early orthodontics or braces are necessary in order to reduce the severity of the protruding teeth and thus significantly reduce the chance of them being damaged.

Early identification and protection of protruding teeth through regular dental check-ups reduces the chance of early problems becoming long-term dental issues.  The results of this study confirm that regular check-ups, particularly for children, are a must for good, long-term Happy Healthy Teeth.  

-Dr. Jon and Team Happy Healthy Teeth

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