Everyone wants beautifully shaped, white, perfectly aligned teeth. Good teeth can make any look, just as bad teeth can break it. That is why one should maintain good oral health. But some circumstances are beyond our control. Crooked teeth are one such condition. Crooked teeth can give a severe blow to your self-confidence.
Some people have a hardly noticeable misalignment in their teeth whereas some people can have teeth growing at a substantial distance from their gums. Crooked teeth can give rise to medical issues. As a result, straightening crooked teeth is the best way to tackle the problem. Most people with crooked teeth start treatment in their childhood or early adulthood.
What Problems Can Crooked Teeth Cause?
As we just said, crooked teeth are the cause of many problems, and low self-esteem is the most harmful of them. These problems are all persistent.
- Poor Oral Health – Crooked teeth are hard to clean. It is impossible to get your toothbrush into all the extra nooks and crannies created by them.
As a result, food residue does not get cleaned and bacteria accumulate in the teeth. This will lead to tooth decay, gum problems and finally, periodontitis. You may have to remove all your teeth even. That is worse than crooked teeth.
- Digestion Problems – Chewing is the first step of digestion, and it is extremely crucial too. Chewing breaks down the food into small pieces, allowing enzymes to digest every part of it.
Chewing is also necessary for salivary amylase to properly start digesting the carbs in our mouth. Crooked teeth are a serious hindrance to chewing. The consequence is a lifetime of poorly digested food.
- Speech defects- Speech is a complex process. Every part of the mouth must move accurately to produce a certain sound. Evolution has shaped our mouth to be this way because it is most suitable for speech. But crooked teeth mess up that shape. It also prevents unhindered movement of the tongue and interferes with the exit of the sound waves. As a result, lisps and other speech difficulties are common in people with crooked teeth.
- Placement problems – Crooked teeth do not sit in the mouth as they are supposed to. Teeth are shaped, sized and aligned in a way that fits exactly over each other.
Teeth that grow out of their shape will sit wrong and cause friction to the soft tissue of the gum, tongue and inside the cheeks. They may even cause other teeth to chip. You may not be able to rest your mouth as you should. This can lead to several craniofacial symptoms.
Easy injury- Although this problem is only occasional, it can lead to serious problems. When teeth are not in the right place inside the mouth, even small accidents can lead to serious injuries.
A minor fall can cause your teeth to jab and pierce soft tissue in your mouth. Or you may end up breaking a tooth because it hit itself in a way it is not supposed to.
Common Causes of Crooked Teeth
Crooked teeth are quite common. In many people, crooked teeth are not very apparent. So the number is larger than you think. In all these people, the reason for crooked teeth could be genetic or induced. The problem may also either appear in childhood or adulthood. Let us look at some of the common causes of crooked teeth.
- Genetic trait – Many people carry genes for crooked teeth. This may get transmitted from parent to child and cause crooked teeth along the generation.
- Poor oral health – Oral diseases and poor dental nutrition can give rise to crooked teeth. Loose, decaying teeth and weak gums can cause teeth to shift and become crooked.
- Injury – Often, blunt force trauma to your face can cause your teeth to move from its place due to the force.
- Childhood habits – As a child, if you sucked your thumb or used your pacifier or feeding bottle too much, blame that for your crooked teeth. The unnatural push from the object caused your teeth to form in unnatural orientations. Even early falling of milk teeth due to poor oral health or continuous disturbance can lead the permanent tooth in its place to grow crooked.
- Malocclusion – This is a craniofacial defect. You will know this by the common terms overbite and underbite. The improper oral placement of the teeth causes people with malocclusion to develop crooked teeth.
- Over-crowding – The jaws in many people are too small to accommodate all the teeth. So, often, their teeth end up crooked to allow space for all of them to grow.
Correcting Crooked Teeth
Gone are the days when the only option you had for straightening crooked teeth was bulky metal braces. Today, you have a range of options to choose from. Many of these will not even be visible when you wear them. We will talk about the three proven and safest options.
Braces
Braces may be the oldest technology for straightening crooked teeth, but they are still around. The reason for this is versatility. Braces can correct any form and severity of crooked teeth. Metal or ceramic brackets are attached to individual teeth. These brackets are all attached by an archwire. The archwire, along with the elastic or slider band, gradually pull the teeth into the correct position. You can also get lingual braces, which are attached to the teeth on the inside. They use the same technology as traditional braces.
Nowadays, invisible braces too are available. They are made of clear plastic or teeth-coloured material, and so, are far less conspicuous. Braces can be used by children as well as adults. The biggest advantage of braces is its longevity. The same brace can last you a lifetime. The downside is that no matter how much they are camouflaged, they do not, in the true sense, give invisible tooth straightening.
Aligners
Teeth straightening aligners are dental trays made of clear plastic. They are made in the shape of your teeth. They are always made a step closer to the correct teeth configuration than your teeth. Thus, they physically force your teeth to attain the correct arrangement to fit the aligners better. As the teeth move more to their proper position, the aligners are also changed to keep up.
Teeth straightening aligners cannot correct major misalignment. They need repeated replacement. Their use must also be consistent to have any visible effect. But they can give invisible teeth straightening. So, many people prefer them over braces.
Invisalign
Invisalign represents the next generation of invisible teeth-straightening aligners. They are an improvement over conventional aligners. They fit way better, as a result of the high-grade 3D printing technology used. The high-quality plastic is so clear and the shape so similar to actual teeth that people will never notice unless you tell them. Invisalign also incorporates newer features that can correct diverse imperfections, like braces. Most orthodontists nowadays are recommending Invisalign teeth-straightening aligners. The patients love it more too. After all, no one wants ugly braces when they have the option of invisible teeth straightening.
When it comes to teeth straightening, preferences will remain. Doctors will also give different recommendations based on your specific requirement. But the above ones are proved to be the safest, backed by tests, doctors’ trust and patients’ satisfaction.