When you’re dealing with crooked teeth, you could end up experiencing various functional and aesthetic issues. When your teeth are misaligned, it isn’t just how you look that’s affected, but also how you feel.

There are various health-related conditions you might find yourself dealing with when you have crooked teeth. Orthodontic treatments can help you straighten your teeth and restore your smile. But before you start looking into straight teeth solutions, let’s look at why you should fix your crooked teeth.

Why You May Want to Consider Correcting Crooked Teeth

You could find yourself dealing with various health issues when you have crooked teeth. You’re more likely to get periodontal disease, where your gums and teeth are affected. This is because when your teeth are crooked, cleaning between them becomes more difficult.

This leads to the buildup of plaque between the teeth. As a result, harmful bacteria can more easily multiply in your mouth. You could also have speech issues, as crooked teeth might prevent you from pronouncing words correctly.

People who have crooked teeth also deal with self-esteem issues. They aren’t able to smile openly and can end up feeling self-conscious while talking. A lot of people have crooked teeth because they have a misaligned jaw. This can be corrected with orthodontic treatments. If you have a misaligned jaw, your upper and lower teeth could protrude. This could result in them rubbing together. When this happens, chewing becomes challenging, and dental fractures or enamel erosion can also occur.

When you have crooked teeth, you could also experience TMJ disorder. This uncomfortable jaw issue affects the face, shoulders, and neck.

TMJ disorders affect people whose jaw and the hinge joint have experienced a lot of wear and tear.

Whether your teeth are rubbing together or your jaw muscles are under pressure for long periods of time, these can cause headaches.

Why Are Crooked Teeth So Common?

There are several factors that could cause people to get crooked teeth. Bad oral habits are one of them. Dental markers that cause crooked teeth often come from genetics. Sometimes, having a small mouth could also cause the teeth to be crowded.

If you have a misaligned jaw, then this could also lead to crooked teeth. This is because the teeth can’t stay in their normal position properly. What you eat is also essential. If you aren’t getting proper nutrition, then this can affect your oral health condition over time. Consuming excessive amounts of soft food over many years can affect your jaw muscle and size. This can, in turn, cause you to develop crooked teeth.

Finally, injury or trauma to the face can also cause people to develop crooked teeth. Orthodontic treatments can help people fix their crooked teeth. So what are the straight teeth solutions that are available to you?

Top Treatment Options for Crooked Teeth

If you have crooked teeth, various orthodontic treatments are available to you. The first of these is Invisalign.

Invisalign braces are incredibly convenient. They are comfortable to wear and easy to put on or remove. Invisalign braces are clear plastic trays that help shift your teeth slowly over time.

You can also consider getting traditional metal braces. These are made of brackets and can be slightly bulky. Some people experience discomfort when they use traditional metal braces. Traditional metal braces are the strongest of the straight teeth solutions available to you. If you have complex problems with biting or your teeth are overcrowded, traditional metal braces can help you.

The third option is ceramic braces. These are similar to traditional metal braces, but they have the same colour as your natural teeth, making them almost invisible. This is why ceramic braces are more popular than metal braces. Another option is retainers. You can get either removable or fixed retainers.

There are various straight teeth solutions available to fix crooked teeth. When you have crooked teeth, you may experience various oral health-related conditions. It can affect your self-esteem as well. With the help of straight teeth solutions like Invisalign, ceramic braces, retainers, and more, you can fix your crooked teeth easily. Contact Woodlawn Orthodontics today for more information!

When the upper teeth extend over the lower set, it is called an overbite or, colloquially, ‘buck teeth.’ Overbite may or may not impair your jaw alignment. However, when it is severe enough, an overbite can cause a number of problems, including tooth decay or even speech impairment. This condition is corrected with traditional braces, ceramic braces, a retainer, or by even more aesthetic methods like Invisalign treatment.

The classifications of an overbite

Some overbites require orthodontic treatments, while others are minor enough to ignore. A severe overbite (called class 2 malocclusion) is when there is a significant gap of several millimetres between the two, even when your jaw is clenched. A slight overbite is when there is very little gap (class 1 malocclusion).

There is another classification, too – skeletal and dental overbite. When the jaw cannot accommodate all the teeth or is too big for your teeth, you may have a skeletal overbite. When jaw alignment is perfect, but the two sets of teeth are not aligned, you have a dental overbite.

Overbite vs. overjets

Often, people confuse overbite and overjet. In both cases, you have the upper teeth jutting over the lower. With an overbite, however, your upper teeth come in front of or over the lower. Overjet is when the upper set protrudes at an angle past the lower set.

Both may affect jaw alignment, and both may also require orthodontic treatments like traditional braces, ceramic braces, or Invisalign to correct if severe.

Causes, symptoms, and complications

Causes and symptoms

A skeletal overbite resulting from genetic factors can pave the way for a dental overbite or worsen it. There are other causative facts for overbites, too, starting with the shape of the jaw and the number of teeth in total. Too many teeth cause overcrowding; too few leave too much gap in between. Missing teeth also result in gaps.

Early childhood habits like thumb sucking or long-term bottle or pacifier use contribute to overbites. So do school-age habits like chewing nails or other hard objects like pencils or pens.

Those who are used to breathing through the mouth or unconsciously thrusting the tongue against the front/ top teeth also develop overbites.

Complications

When an overbite is not addressed with appropriate orthodontic treatments, it can lead to many complications. Common ones like enamel erosion, tooth decay, and gum infections are not the only outcomes. You can also develop headaches and jaw pain or difficulty speaking clearly. Apart from these, chewing difficulties and sleep apnea are lesser-known consequences of severe untreated overbites.

Correcting an overbite

To avert complications and enjoy a beautiful smile, the overbite must be treated correctly. Traditional braces are the age-old treatment for an overbite. They keep the teeth in place by applying the right pressure consistently. However, they are quite visible when you smile or talk. A better alternative is Ceramic braces. A less visible option, these have transparent material holding your teeth in place. These are less apparent to the eye. A retainer is used to keep the teeth in the proper position after the overbite has been corrected using braces.

Invisalign – The popular choice 

Invisalign treatment is growing by leaps and bounds in popularity. Invisalign is clear and invisible against your teeth. An experienced, licensed orthodontist can give you the most effective overbite treatment with Invisalign without compromising aesthetics.

An overbite may or may not lead to pain and discomfort. A severe overbite should be corrected even if you do not feel anything because of it. If you have chosen the popular Invisalign treatment for this, make sure you pick a licensed, qualified, and experienced orthodontist to get the most effective solutions. You may also go with braces or retainers. Are you interested in correcting your smile? Contact Woodlawn Orthodontics today!