As we discussed last week, your smile holds a lot power. Your smile has the ability to make others smile. Your smile is your signature and sign of confidence, happiness, and positivity. A straight toothed and sincere smile is more than just aesthetically significant though. Straightening your teeth is actually imperative to upholding optimal oral health. There is a quite a long list of consequences, in the long run, for opting not to straightening your teeth or close a sizeable gap.
For starters, having crooked teeth can actually end up causing you discomfort, especially when eating. Unnecessary and unbalanced exertion, which is caused by misaligned teeth and a misaligned bite, will end up wearing down your teeth at a far faster pace than if your teeth and bite were properly aligned. Also, this uneven pressure from misaligned chewing can end up causing a break or a fracture, which if severe enough can lead to having to get a crown. A crown procedure is not particularly cheap, and in this type of case could probably be avoided completely.
When teeth are crooked and overlapping, it is more difficult to properly clean them. Your risk of gum disease and gingivitis is much higher when your teeth are not straight. When your teeth are straight, your gums are tighter and less likely to have plaque build up in the soft tissue. Plaque is an acidic bacterium that can penetrate your gum line. The initial signs of gum disease are swollen and bleeding gum. In severe cases, when left untreated, teeth will begin to fall out.
Having a gap between your teeth also puts you at risk for losing teeth. Where there is a gap, your teeth are more likely and capable of moving. This movement occurs when a tooth or teeth loosen from the surrounding gum tissue. Loose teeth are at a high risk of falling out. No one wants to lose his or her teeth!
These issues can be easily avoided though. There are multiple straightening and gap closing options, depending on the specific case. Invisalign is often an excellent choice and a treatment that we provide (we will discuss this next week). The added benefits of straightening your teeth is that your smile will reflect your inner beauty and you will be more likely to want to share that beauty and happiness with the world. It is something to think about…