Diastemas and reasoning?

Question

i'm going to be using dental terminology so if you have no clue what it means don't answer hopefully this way i can get some educated answers. but basically my question is and i'm not trying to be racist but it seems to me that the majority of people with diastemas between their 8 and 9 are african americans. why is that??

Answer 1

According to my experience at that age you CAN have a mild degree of diastema in that area (i.e., between #8 and #9), which is normal.

However, you are right that the Afro-American population have a greater amount of gap. (Nice observation !)

That is because they have a very prominent (i.e., thick and fibrous) labial frenum, that attaches at the tissue between those two teeth.

Too much traction pulls the two teeth apart.

SOLUTION :

1. Frenectomy. This is a minor procedure done by either an Oral Surgeon or Periodontist or even a knowledgeable General Dentist to release the frenum. It is done under local anesthesia and heals pretty quick.

2. Braces : to bring the teeth together.

3. Retainer : to prevent relapse.

Note : Just getting Orthodontic treatment (braces) to close the gap will not get a good result until and unless the cause (traction caused by the frenum) has been removed. In that case there will a quick relapse.

Hope this helped :)