Here are some of the less obvious (but More Important!) ways that straight teeth will help you!
Braces aren’t just for teenagers anymore and straightening crooked teeth with braces or Invisalign is becoming more and more common among adults. However, the reason for doing so is not necessarily the obvious one. As it turns out, the benefits of straight teeth are much greater to your health and well-being than you might think.
It’s All About Bite
Misaligned or crooked teeth affect your bite—or the way that your teeth come together when you close your mouth. Most people assume that their teeth just naturally line up together whether the teeth are straight or not. In reality, improper alignment causes additional pressure and stress points in the places where your teeth meet, and where they don’t. Eventually, this ends up causing problems for your mouth and elsewhere.
Reducing or Eliminating Pain
A poorly aligned bite can cause several pain-inducing problems including temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ), aches in your head and neck, and even migraines. In fact, we often treat migraine sufferers referred to our practice from pain management clinics. In one case, a patient came to us who had been suffering from migraines for 25 years, eventually quitting her job because of them. We identified several issues affecting her bite and began treating them. Within a few months of beginning the treatment, her bite changed, relaxing some of the muscles in her face and neck and she became migraine-free. Not only was this life-changing in that she no longer suffered from debilitating migraines, but she was able to stop using migraine medication which has a bad reputation for being damaging to the liver and kidneys after long-term use.
https://youtu.be/2Ed8JXvNUq8
More Benefits of Straight Teeth
Beyond pain, other health issues can develop as a result of misaligned teeth. Crooked teeth create nooks and crannies in your mouth where food tends to get caught. It can be difficult to get it out even with proper brushing and flossing. People with this problem can easily develop gum disease, chronic bad breath, and other more serious health issues. There’s a simple solution! Align the teeth to eliminate the nooks and crannies, then the patient’s oral care improves, and the gum disease goes away.
In very severe cases, a badly misaligned bite left untreated can even impact how effectively you are able to chew your food. These are rare cases, but they do happen when teeth are crowded, have been damaged by grinding, or have shifted after tooth loss (another reason why we recommend dental implants or crowns and bridges after losing a tooth). When you can’t chew your food properly, digestive problems begin to develop, and eventually, nutrient absorption becomes a concern. Again, these cases don’t happen often but can be very serious when they do occur.
It Goes Both Ways
The main message here is that beyond just aesthetics, the benefits of straight teeth to correct the bite can have a major impact on overall health. However, the cosmetic angle is still an important one since most people who undergo orthodontic treatment are doing it for aesthetic reasons. For as much good as realigning the teeth can do to reduce or eliminate pain and gum disease, it is also possible that when not done correctly, it can actually cause some of these problems. Your dentist or orthodontist should take into account what your bite will look like after the teeth are aligned, otherwise, it can all go wrong.
Dr. Agatha Bis understands that straightening your teeth can impact much more than just your smile and that cosmetic dentistry treatments can have an effect on overall health if done correctly, or incorrectly. Call our Oakville dental clinic at 905-338-6684 to make an appointment or use the form below to contact us with questions about Invisalign, teeth whitening, dental implants, and other restorative dentistry procedures.