Straight Teeth Are Healthy Teeth
When most people think of orthodontics they think of adolescents getting braces to make their teeth look good. While that is a worthwhile and common reason for orthodontics, there a few other reasons why orthodontics is extremely important and should even be considered by adults who have misaligned teeth.
1. Appearance
There’s no denying the immediate impact of a beautiful smile and having straight teeth makes a huge difference.
2. Oral Health
When teeth are crowded and misaligned they are much harder to effectively clean and floss. Less than optimal cleaning of teeth can lead to gum disease and cavities.
3. Function and Comfort
In dentistry, the way upper and lower teeth come together is called the bite. Another extremely common reason to get orthodontics is to correct over bites, under bites, or cross bites.
Why is a bad bite a big problem? First, it has the possibility of leading to discomfort and jaw pain or TMJ (temporal mandibular joint) pain. Second, it can also cause a few individual teeth to bear the brunt of your bite force instead of spreading the force across many teeth. Teeth which are subjected to excessive forces repeatedly over years are much more likely to crack and break; leading to the need for dental crowns.