Your teeth are healthy, not stained, and you put in much effort in taking care of them. Except there is one problem—your teeth and jaws are misaligned. Even with perfectly healthy teeth, misaligned teeth and jawbone can affect your appearance, causing your smile to dampen. Luckily, it is possible to straighten the teeth and the jaw, thanks to orthodontics. At The Dentists at North Cypress, we offer a wide range of orthodontic solutions to help fix your crooked teeth and mouth structure, thus giving you back your smile.
Orthodontic treatments help to fix improperly positioned teeth and jaw bones. The ill-positioning can be caused by some factors such as:
• Crowded teeth—which leads to insufficient space of the dental ridge, thus causing some teeth to be crooked.
• Misplaced midline—when there is a misalignment between the center of the upper and lower front teeth.
• Large gaps between the teeth—particularly after the loss of some of your teeth.
• Overbite, underbite, crossbite, and open bite problems.
All of these problems can cause the appearance of your teeth and oral structure to be less than pleasing, which can be embarrassing while you are in public. There is also the increased risk of damage to your teeth. Misaligned teeth and jawbone can also strain the jaw muscles, causing health conditions such as joint problems and headaches. Orthodontic treatments are thus vital in helping to prevent these problems.
There are several orthodontic solutions that are available to fix misaligned teeth and jawbones. These solutions are in the form of various appliances, which help to straighten the teeth and the jaw. Some of these appliances include:
• Braces are among the most common orthodontic appliances. They help to fix misaligned teeth by moving them to their proper positions. There are several types of braces that are available—ceramic braces, Invisalign braces, stainless steel braces, and plastic braces.
• Aligners are another option for fixing misaligned teeth. They are common in adults (braces are more popular with children), and they function in the same way as braces—moving the teeth to their right position.
• Retainers are orthodontic devices that promote proper alignment of the teeth and jawbone by preventing the teeth from shifting, hence “retaining ” their correct position.
• Losing a tooth causes the adjacent teeth to shift to fill up space. The shifting can be significant, particularly at a young age, which can cause problems when the permanent tooth erupts to replace the lost baby tooth. Space maintainers help to prevent this problem, by maintaining the position of the other teeth until the permanent one emerges.
• A headgear is an orthodontic appliance that fixes jaw alignment issues, for example, when the upper jaw and teeth lie too forward compared to the lower jaw and teeth. The headgear helps to align the teeth and jaws by pulling back the front teeth while maintaining the position of the lower teeth.
Having misaligned teeth and jaws can be damaging to your appearance, not to mention that it can cause you dental and overall health problems. However, with orthodontics, you can be able to fix the alignment issues and get back your smile. Call us, The Dentists at North Cypress, at (281) 664-8100 for more information on the various orthodontic treatments that are available.