Crooked, misaligned teeth are very common. Unfortunately, many children and adults have them. However, you shouldn’t feel ashamed of them if you have crooked teeth. It is very normal to feel uncomfortable and less confident with crooked teeth.
Keep reading to discover why teeth can be crooked and the health problems they can sometimes cause.
What causes crooked teeth?
Both deciduous and permanent teeth can be crooked. In addition, deciduous teeth sometimes move into the wrong positions because they’re too small to fill the amount of gum space.
Having crooked baby teeth doesn’t mean permanent crooked teeth. However, if baby teeth grow together, the permanent teeth may also grow to be crowded.
There are multiple reasons of crooked teeth, such as:
Poor myofunctional habits
These myofunctional habits are repetitive behaviors that affect the muscles or functions of a baby’s face. They include:
- thumb sucking
- tongue thrusting
- pacifier or bottle use
- mouth breathing
Genetics and heredity
If one or both parents have crowded or crooked teeth, the kid may have it too. It is also common to inherit an overbite or underbite from parents.
Poor dental care
Not having your teeth checked at least twice annually by a dentist can sometimes lead to problems such as several gum diseases and cavities. This can lead to crooked teeth and other major dental health problems.
Developmental anomalies
Mainly in children, developmental anomalies can lead to tooth decay and poor dental development, potentially precursors to crooked teeth.
Facial injury
Direct trauma to the face or mouth can knock teeth out of place, resulting in one or multiple crooked teeth.
Jaw size
The diet of soft, processed food that babies and even adults consume requires less chewing than the hard food eaten by our early ancestors.
This change has changed our collective jaw size, making it smaller. Scientists believe our evolved, shorter jaw may be responsible for crowded, crooked, and misaligned teeth.
Issues caused by crooked teeth
In some cases, crooked teeth can affect the quality of life. For example, misaligned teeth might sometime affect your ability to chew, causing pain every time you eat.
In addition, some people feel so self-conscious about crooked teeth that they usually stop smiling or avoid social gatherings.
Other health issues that crooked teeth cause include:
- Periodontal disease. If left untreated, gum disease usually leads to periodontitis, a serious infection that damages bones and teeth.
- Chewing and digestion. Crooked teeth can also interfere while chewing, which may cause digestion problems if unchewed food is processed regularly.
- Excess wear. Crooked teeth also cause excessive wear and tear on the gums, teeth, and jaw muscles, resulting in jaw strain and temporomandibular joint disorder.
- Speech difficulties. If teeth are misaligned, they can affect how to articulate sound, causing speech problems.
- Self-esteem. Unhappiness with your physical appearance often leads to a lack of self-esteem and social avoidance.
Treatment of crooked teeth
The following are the treatment options for crooked teeth:
Dental Aligners
Invisible dental aligners are clear appliances made to fit your teeth’ unique shape. Used alone, they’re the most recent, treat modality, and technologically advanced.
Braces
Braces are the traditional option for correcting various teeth alignment issues. In addition, braces are more common for treating severe cases of spacing, crowding, and misalignment.
Dental direct or indirect veneers
Dental bonding uses resin to close the gaps between the teeth. It can also alter the shape or mend a chipped tooth. Dental bonding can help correct minor smile imperfections to create a straightened appearance and improve overall dental health by repairing the damage.
Jaw Surgery
If your issue is caused by jaw misalignment, braces alone cannot fix the issue, and you might need jaw surgery, also known as orthognathic surgery. According to our dentists, the sight of straightening the teeth corrects jaw bone irregularities and realigns the teeth and jaw.
You might not require treatment for crooked teeth unless they’re causing health or self-esteem/ mental health issues. The decision to get crooked teeth fixed is a personal one. If you have decided to get treatment for crooked teeth in Mumbai, book an appointment with DentAppeal immediately. We are a team committed to adding that shine to your smile by providing you with healthy teeth that you can’t resist but flaunt!