Metal Mouth Message Board

My dad had good teeth, never really had a lot of cavities, and they were straight for the most part. His bottoms were a little crowded, but that's about it. Both my brothers got his teeth. My mom has bad teeth. Prone to decay, lots of staining, but overall, not too crooked. She has a bit of an overjet as well. She has a fear of the dentist, which she passed on to the three kids. As a kid I always had a lot of cavities (so did one of my older brothers), and she never pushed braces on me. Since I got braces, I thought she was getting better about her teeth as she mentioned getting a whitening treatment done. I have a friend who had extreme sensitivity issues after having that done (she said she couldn't touch paper, it felt like nails on a chalkboard) and I told her about it. She immediatly said "No way, not a chance, I won't do it". She also refused to have x-rays done at her last cleaning (not too sure why). My oldest brother has fairly straight teeth, but has an overjet, and my other brother has straight teeth except for one tooth that overlaps a little onto his front teeth. I know he hasn't been to the dentist in a long time, and he's also bad about brushing, so I'm sure after all this time his teeth are full of holes. I was hoping since I got braces it would encourage him, but I guess not! No one in my family has ever had braces (cousins, aunts, uncles, etc), so I'm thrilled to be the first and be the one to have the best teeth of everyone!

my dad has gappy teeth but a good bite he never had a cavity until he was in his mid 40s. My mom has crowded teeth lots of cavities an over jet and overbite. I know whos teeth I got for sure my moms. and she has teeth just like my grandma's and great grandma's. My brothers both pretty much got my dads teeth and moms bite. All i know about my grandpas teeth is my dads dad (he's 90) doesnt have any left and my moms dad had all his pulled in his 30's (gum disease).

Both my parents had perfect teeth and bites but didn't hold onto them all that long. They were both born in the 30s and as far as I remember Mom had some dentures from her late 30s/early 40s onwards and all dentures from about 60. Dad hung out a bit longer with straggly remains but went to dentures in his 60s. All siblings have really pretty straight teeth as does everyone else in the family.......'cept me

However the offspring of the siblings are showing some wooky teeth so maybe theres an intergenertaional thing. I'm just glad I got mine - the others all have pretty but weak teeth, mine are designed for you average carniverous dinosaur so are tough but crooked as hell - ah well.

Hi, my mums teeth are a bit messy and my fathers teeth are great. My sister's teeth are perfect. I enherited my dad's small jaw and mouth and my greatgrandmothers huge roots/teeth. Result: Braces as a teenager and braces + extractions as an adult!
Joanna

I inherited my narrow upper jaw from my mum. She had the same problem: not enough space for the canines to come down. But unlike mine that never ever budged through my gums hers did, but they were so badly positioned in her bite that her school dentist (in late 1950's or early 1960's) extracted her canines. She has that same narrow upper arch as I did before having SARPE and braces.
My dad's teeth were straight and my brother has fantastic, big and strong teeth.

Dad was born in 1936 and had all his teeth out when he was 20 since they were chalky and breaking. I don't know whether he had ortho issues. Photos of his mum (my nanna) show overjets though. Mum was born in 1941 and still has her own teeth which are fairly straight.

My older sister and I both had substantial overjets and crowding - we are both fairly tall, skinny people and were mistaken for each other. My other two sisters are similar to each other, heavier and don't have major orthodontic issues.

I remember a dentist telling me years ago that ortho problems were caused by inheriting a small mouth from one parent (or grandparent?)and large teeth from another. If there was a mismatch you had orthodontic problems. I don't know how true that is.

Chrisk

It doesn't matter what genes you pass down to your children as long as you pass down the most important thing: Good hygiene habits and every 6 months visits to the dentist. Also the dentist visit should be very matter of fact - not fraught with fear. If the kids see you nervous they will be nervous. I always loved going to the dentist so I could feel that nice clean feeling on my teeth! Okay I know I am weird.

Well said jcdamon3! I do think I'm lucky in that I have never been scared of the dentist, and my Mum always made sure we went every 6 months. I could never understand then why people were so scared, although I understand now that having lots of work done when you are a young child may be frightening.

As for my genes... I fear any future children will need braces- but at least I will have experienced them so I will cope just fine!