Do Crooked Teeth Cause Health Problems?

If you suffer from a less-than-straight smile, you may also be at a higher risk of developing other common dental issues such as tooth decay because properly cleaning your teeth can become difficult.

If you continuously hear the words tooth decay, cavities, and gingivitis from your dentist, it may be time for you to consider straighter teeth for more reasons than just vanity.

Why Crowded Teeth Tend to Cause Dental Problems

Whether your teeth are overcrowded, excessively spaced or misaligned, these issues can lead to your teeth wearing unevenly over time, and an cause the teeth to weaken and even fall out. More common problems associated with misaligned teeth include excessive wear, headaches, jaw pain and difficulty in cleaning the teeth potentially causing an increase in tooth decay and gum disease.

If you suffer from crooked teeth and a misaligned bite, you can experience:

• Increased tooth wear – When your bite doesn’t correctly align, this causes your teeth to wear unevenly, decreasing your natural enamel and requiring dental treatments to replace the surfaces of your teeth.
• Interference with proper chewing – If your teeth do not align when biting down, you may favor chewing on one side over the other, causing interference with proper chewing on both sides of the mouth.
• Difficulty in cleaning teeth properly – Overlapping or crowded teeth make it difficult to properly clean all surfaces of your teeth with a standard toothbrush and dental floss.
• Jaw muscle strain – Excessive strain on your teeth, jaws, and jaw muscles, increasing the risk of breaking a tooth.
• Feeling self-conscious – Those with crooked teeth tend to feel self-conscious of their smile and may choose to hide it with their lips or hands when smiling.

Poorly-Aligned Jaws & TMJ

If you suffer from chronic jaw pain, that frustrating and life-altering pain may be stemming from the fact that you have crooked teeth. The most common factors that tend to lead to jaw dysfunction and discomfort are:

• Misaligned teeth that put additional pressure on the jaw muscles to perform daily routines such as eating or speaking.
• A cavity that has gone untreated and has caused an abscess from lack of dental care.
• Stress that causes your particularly sensitive jaw area to be tense.
• If you have suffered a blow to the jaw or other physical damage to the jaw components.
• Chronic clenching and grinding from Bruxism that place an excessive amount of pressure on the jaw that makes it feel fatigued and sore

How a Crooked Smile Can Impact Your Overall Health

While regaining your self confidence is reason enough to seek out straighter teeth, there are a number of other health-related reasons that make straight teeth are important for a person’s overall being. Crooked teeth can affect your oral and overall healthy by:

1. Your mouth is the gateway to your body and a straight smile is a sign of good overall health. When the teeth and gums are unable to be properly cared for, tooth decay and gum disease can set in. If left untreated, these oral health problems can become even more serious by leading to open mouth sores and bleeding gums that allow bacteria to enter the bloodstream. The American Dental Association has reported that these infections can later lead to serious ailments like heart disease, diabetes, pneumonia and stroke.
2. When your teeth are aligned, your gums fit more snugly against the bone, decreasing the risk for bacteria to sneak in. Deep pockets in the gums due to crooked teeth can lead to gum disease which causes bad breath, soreness, sensitivity and tooth loss.
3. Well aligned teeth can also help you brush better. When your teeth overlap, it becomes hard to clean them thoroughly and properly. Even with flossing, it isn’t always possible to clean every surface of every tooth. Improper brushing will lead to plaque buildup and weekended teeth with damaged enamel and cavities. In severe cases, this can even lead to tooth decay and eventually tooth loss.

How a Crooked Smile Can Impact Your Mental Health

A smile is one of the first things that anyone notices in a person, and if you suffer from crooked teeth, you already know that this can cause you to be very conscious of your imperfect smile. Crooked teeth can lead people to not smile as often, isolate themselves, avoid public speaking, avoid conversations and have social anxiety.

If you have crooked teeth, take back your self confidence and contact us today to schedule a consultation for how we can help you regain your confidence while also improving your dental checkups with a straighter smile. Hoffman Dental Care is here to help give you the smile you’ve always dreamed of!