Teeth misalignment occurs when the upper and lower teeth do not align when the jaw is closed. The misalignment can occur due to underbite, overbite or crooked teeth. You can fix it by opting for malocclusion and orthodontic treatment.
What Problems do Misaligned Teeth Cause?
- Difficulty with Chewing Food
Chewing food can be tough when you have crooked teeth. To chew properly, there should be good contact between the upper and lower teeth.
Protruding upper and lower teeth may rub together and prevent normal jaw alignment. This makes it difficult to chew. Crooked teeth ensure that the food isn’t chewed properly and lead to problems related to digestion or nourishment.
Braces treatment can help in fixing the crooked teeth and help you chew better.
- Loss of Self-Confidence
Most people feel conscious of their misaligned teeth and it may affect their confidence. They would shy away from smiling or talking.
They may even avoid social interactions altogether or suffer from social anxiety and depression.
- Risk of Breaking a Tooth
Crooked teeth increase the risk of chipping, cracking or breaking a tooth. This generally occurs because you may have to readjust the position of your jaw to speak or eat.
The teeth and jaw muscles will face excessive strain just to achieve simple tasks like eating. The excessive force on certain parts of the teeth can lead to chipping or fracturing of teeth.
- Difficulty in Speaking that can Cause a Lisp
The teeth and tongue control the way you pronounce certain words and letters. Minor defects in the teeth could cause speech disorders like a lisp. Incorrect placement of tongue against the back of the upper front teeth will make the words sound different.
Treatments for Aligning Crooked Teeth
You can choose from different types of braces to align teeth for better oral health.
- Metal Braces
Metal braces are the oldest and most common treatment to straighten crooked and misaligned teeth. These are small metal brackets that are attached to the teeth with the help of dental adhesives.
An orthodontic wire is used for tightening the brackets together to put constant yet mild pressure on the teeth. This pressure will eventually straighten the teeth over time. Metal braces can successfully straighten severely misaligned teeth.
These are exactly like the metal braces with the difference of having ceramic or clear brackets. This makes ceramic braces less noticeable. If you want, you can even opt for teeth-coloured brace wire.
3. Invisalign
Invisalign are transparent, custom-made trays that you have to put over your teeth. The size of the trays is based on the size of the teeth structure.
Invisalign trays are not attached to the teeth and you can remove them whenever you want. Due to their clarity, they are barely noticeable. You need to take them off while eating and brushing. Though you can take them off when you want, dentists recommend that you wear them for 22 hours a day.
Make an appointment with your orthodontist to fix misaligned teeth and get a straighter smile. Apart from a smile makeover, you will also gain self-confidence.
Author Bio:
Sharon Williams' day job is to handle digital marketing for Koch Orthodontics in Lawrenceville, GA. With a flair for creating compelling content that clears the clutter and connects with the audience in an instant, she writes about dental topics to educate and help her readers. She truly believes that a genuine smile can win a million hearts and talks to her readers about improving their smiles and overall dental health, as well as enhancing their overall lifestyle. In her free time, she likes to organize small meets in her neighbourhood where she brings people together to discuss various topics that she writes about.