Orthodontic treatment is designed to help correct crooked, crowded, and overlapping teeth in the smiles of teens and adults. By correcting uneven smiles, oral health and bite function can improve, and patients can feel more confident in their appearance. In today’s blog, your Celina, TX, dentist talks about our approach to orthodontic care!
The Causes of Dental Misalignment
What causes our smiles to become uneven? For some, this is due to issues that develop in childhood. For example, complications with the growth of the jaw or the eruption of the teeth could lead to crooked, crowded, and overlapping teeth. Losing baby teeth early could alter how permanent ones erupt, and thumb sucking or tongue thrusting could also impact how teeth arrive.
In the teen and adult years, the arrival of wisdom teeth could crowd the smile and shift the teeth. Losing teeth to issues like injury or gum disease could also lead to alignment issues as teeth begin to drift from their positions. As part of our diagnostic process, we will assess the cause and severity of your misalignment so we can choose the best option to correct your teeth and improve the health and beauty of your smile.
The Impact on Your Oral Health and Appearance
Obviously, misalignment can alter the appearance of your smile and leave you feeling self-conscious about your smile. You could even avoid interactions with people or hide your smile from the world! But this could also lead to issues with oral health and bite function too. Poor alignment could strain the jaw joints and leave you vulnerable to painful complications like TMJ disorder and bruxism (teeth grinding). You could also have a hard time thoroughly brushing and flossing your teeth, which in turn increases the risk of tooth decay and gum disease. But we can help by correcting your smile and offering even results, sometimes in as little as a year.
Examining Your Smile
Our team will use digital x-rays and intraoral cameras to carefully examine your smile, as well as your tooth roots and jawbone, to assess the factors behind your misalignment and select the best choice for correcting your smile. Every smile is unique, so your orthodontic treatment will be tailored to your specific situation, so you can enjoy optimal results and better oral health!
Braces
When smiles have a more severe case of misalignment, then we may recommend braces. This can take on major misalignment and offer straighter smiles in about two years. Treatment involves attaching a metal bracket to the front facing side of every tooth. We then connect a portion of a thin arch wire to the brackets with a band. Additional bands may connect the upper and lower sets of teeth as well. During periodic visits to the office, our team will adjust tension in the wire to begin shifting the teeth into proper positions. The jawbone and gums then reform around these new positions of the teeth. This can offer straighter smiles, even if you assume your teeth are far too uneven to be corrected. Talk to us about possible options, we want to help you enjoy better oral health and a more attractive smile!
ClearCorrect
Our team could help more minor cases with clear aligners. These fit over the teeth like a mouthguard, but help shift them into proper positions. We will create a series of them based on detailed digital images and impressions we take of your smile. The aligners will made from a BPA-free plastic material, and are practically invisible when worn. Each set is worn for about two weeks, 20 to 22 hours a day. You then begin wearing the next set in the series for a similar amount of time and could see optimal results in as little as one year! They are also removable, so you can take them out before meals and don’t have to avoid certain food items or snacks. Being removable also means you have a much easier time brushing and flossing, reducing the risk of cavities, gum disease, and the stains during treatment.
If you have any questions about how our team will correct your misalignment with braces or our ClearCorrect aligners, then contact our team today to learn more. We want to help you start your journey to an even and beautiful smile, and now is a great time to do so!
Schedule Your Visit for an Even Smile
With orthodontics, we can help you smile with confidence and enjoy better oral health too. Contact Celina Family Dentistry in Celina, TX by calling 214-851-0130 to schedule your next appointment and straighten your smile.
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