Poor dental habits through child tooth development, facial injuries and genetic reasons as some of the key causes of tooth misalignment. Tooth misalignment, formerly known as malocclusion, is also known as crooked teeth, where your teeth do not grow in a straight position.
Dealing with tooth misalignment can make you feel low on smiling confidence, and a misaligned smile can also coincide with how you feel. Tooth misalignment can also promote a number of oral health and general health-related issues.
There are treatments available to help straighten out your smile, but first, let’s highlight some of the dangers of tooth misalignment that you need to be aware of.
Difficult To Brush And Floss Your Teeth
Tooth misalignment means that when brushing your teeth, it can be very difficult to keep your teeth clean and remove any dental plaque build-up that’s occurred on the tooth surface. Plaque combines with sugar and bacteria to cause damage to your enamel. Reaching between teeth through brushing and flossing your teeth can become virtually impossible.
Gum Disease
When you have crooked teeth, there is a much greater chance of your gums being inflamed. This is because it’s much more difficult to clean in between teeth. There is more opportunity for bacteria to grow, and this can also cause gum recession, where the teeth pull back underneath the gumline, exposing pockets that bacteria can enter.
Chewing Difficulities
When teeth become crooked, the upper and lower teeth protrude as you bite down on food. This causes teeth to rub and grind together. This is a condition known as teeth grinding and causes fast tooth wear. Chewing down on food is also very difficult and causes digestion concerns.
Bad Breath
Tooth misalignment harbours bacteria, and bacteria build-up is the cause of bad breath. The odour from the bacteria can be difficult to remove because food debris will remain stuck in between teeth, and food is the source of all bacteria. In time, a foul smell in the mouth will become stronger and accumulate.
Poor Psychological Wellbeing
A crooked smile attributes to poor psychological wellbeing because your self-esteem and smiling confidence go out of the window. This can result in hiding your smile through fear of judgment or simply not feeling good about yourself. This is a challenge for many who look after their appearance.
What Tooth Misalignment Treatments Are Available?
We at Complete Family Dental have many different treatments available to restore a straight smile:
- Invisalign – Clear aligners are transparent trays that can be worn around your teeth that need to be worn for a minimum of 22 hours in a day. Teeth will slowly begin to straighten themselves. For successful requires, looking after your aligners is important.
- Traditional Braces – A very popular and older choice of treatment to straighten teeth is metal braces, which are brackets attached to teeth, tightened by wires to put pressure on the teeth to straighten them.
- Dental Veneers – Tooth misalignment can be hidden with dental veneers, a composite thin-shaped shell that is bonded to the front surface of your teeth to provide a brand new smile.
- Removal Of Teeth – Your jaw may be too small to accommodate teeth, and this can cause eruptions. This means tooth development is restricted, causing overcrowding. Removing teeth can free up space to allow orthodontic devices to help re-align the teeth.
If you’re seeking support with tooth misalignment, we are here to help! Contact our dentist in Quakers Hill to check yourself in with us!