The teeth can either be defective from birth, change during development, or later due to abuse, diseases, or accidents. Crooked teeth are bad teeth that cause severe damage to your dental health. It can not only damage your smile and facial aesthetics, but it also impedes the teeth from carrying out their functions properly. This can cause harm to your dental health. Crooked teeth affect your bite alignment and make food harder to chew. Crooked teeth in the mouth can lead to severe headaches, shoulder pain, backaches, and even temporomandibular disorder (TMJ).
It might be difficult and almost impossible to carry out proper care of the teeth, like brushing and flossing on crooked teeth. This can increase the risks of tooth decay and periodontal diseases. However, an orthodontist near you can fix your crooked teeth and all other defects through orthodontic treatment. An orthodontist is a dental specialist trained in diagnosing, preventing, guiding, intercepting, and correcting dental irregularities using dental devices. An orthodontic dentist near you undergoes additional years of training after dental school, which qualifies them to fix existing dental conditions and identify and prevent dental problems that may arise in the future.
Orthodontics is the branch of dentistry that specializes in diagnosing, preventing, correcting, and treating patients with mispositioned teeth and misaligned bite patterns. Malocclusion (misaligned teeth) causes difficulties while chewing or biting food, speech problems, problems breathing with the mouth, change in the shape of the face, frequent headaches, and frequent biting of the tongues and cheeks. Also, misaligned teeth are not aesthetically pleasing. Therefore, orthodontic treatment helps to correct malocclusion and straighten crooked teeth.
Orthodontics employs the use of dental devices to correct the shape or position of teeth in the mouth. These devices can either be fixed or removable. The fixed orthodontic devices are attached to the teeth with special cement or metal bands and are not taken off until the treatment is completed. Examples of these include braces in Phoenix, fixed space maintainers, and special fixed appliances. Removable orthodontic devices, on the other hand, can be easily removed by the patient. They are, however, recommended to be used for at least 22 hours a day for maximum effect. Examples of these devices include clear aligners (Invisalign braces), removable space maintainers, lip and cheek bumpers, headgears, jaw repositioning appliances, palatal expanders, etc.The dental irregularities issues treated with orthodontics near you include:
- Crowded Teeth: This is a situation in which the dental ridge cannot accommodate all teeth in the mouth. This increases the risks of tooth decay and periodontal diseases. Therefore, it must be rectified.
- Overbite: This occurs when the front upper teeth and lower teeth do not meet because the former stick out over the latter.
- Openbite: This is a situation in which a vertical gap exists between the front upper and lower teeth when you bite down.
- Gapped Teeth: There are random spaces between the teeth, and the teeth do not appear to fill the mouth.
- Underbite: This is a misalignment between the upper front teeth and lower front teeth in which the latter are set far too forward than the former.
- Crossbite: This occurs when the upper teeth fit behind the lower teeth when the mouth is closed.
Orthodontic treatment cuts across all ages, even though it is most common during childhood and teenage years. You can, however, opt for family orthodontics if you feel the need for orthodontic treatment at any point. You can also seek consultation from an orthodontic dentist in Phoenix, AZ.
The Benefits of Early Orthodontic Treatment
Even though you can get orthodontic treatment anytime, it is better to get it immediately if you need to avoid complications and a worsened condition. The benefits of early orthodontic treatment include:
- Reduction of risks of tooth decay and gum diseases.
- Eliminates potential problems that could arise because of crooked or misaligned teeth.
- Improves self-esteem and confidence.
- It saves the cost of treating much worse problems in the future.
- It helps to keep clean and healthy teeth.
