Dr. Mogell Dental Blog

Boca Raton Cosmetic Dentist

Bad Teeth and Bullies

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Bullies are a big problem in schools. We often think of this as an American problem but a study from Amman, Jordan shows that there are bullies all over the world - and they pick on kids with bad teeth!

The study was published in the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics and looked at almost 1,000 kids to gauge the effect that physical features, especially dental and facial features, had on bullying.

About 47% of the students said they had been bullied. More boys than girls reported bullying. The number one targeted physical feature - the teeth! Behind that were strength and weight.

About half of the bullying victims realized that their teeth were the reason they were being bullied. Kids with "buck" teeth, missing teeth, teeth that were discolored or misshapen were liable to lead to bullying.

A panel of American orthodontists reviewed the study findings and agreed that the experiences of the Jordanian kids would easily translate to American children. One of the orthodontists even noted that he had been bullied as a child because he had an overbite!

Some people think braces just make a smile look pretty. They do that but they also improve the health of the child's teeth - for many, many years. Crooked teeth are more likely to experience tooth decay, leading to more fillings and other dental work over a lifetime. It is hard to clean teeth that are overlapped or crowded so gum disease and tooth decay will occur.

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