Why Braces

Quest Johnson Orthodontics

There are many reasons to get braces. One of the most important things is to improve your oral health. Your oral health directly contributes to your overall health. If your mouth isn’t feeling good, chances are that your entire body won’t feel good either. When your teeth are crooked, overlapped, or otherwise misaligned, you place an uneven amount of pressure when you bite down. That leads to pain, and it can cause your teeth to wear down, chip and even break. Not only that, but poorly aligned teeth are also harder to clean properly which can lead to decay and gum disease.

Braces will straighten your teeth, fix bite issues, and improve the overall appearance of your smile. Best of all, dental braces give you results that can last a lifetime.

It’s no secret that dental issues can cause you pain in your everyday life. When you develop issues such as TMJ, you can start to experience painful headaches and jaw pain. Braces are great for correcting issues such as these. Through aligning your mouth and teeth, you can prevent that pain from appearing. Braces are also a great way to prevent these issues from developing in the first place.

Have you ever heard of diastema? Diastema is the term used for the spaces that occur between your teeth. Braces work to shift your teeth so that they move into a straighter position. This in turn will eliminate any gaps that are present. If gaps are a concern for you, this is a great reason to get braces.

Crowded teeth cause a lot of mouth issues as well. It’s also very difficult to clean the areas where crowding occurs. This leads to tartar build-up that can cause tooth decay and heart problems later in life. By correcting crowding with braces, the teeth will become easier to clean and healthier. Clean teeth mean a happy mouth and a healthy body.

Did you know that misaligned teeth can affect your breathing? Misaligned teeth can cause you to start breathing from your mouth. This can develop into other problems such as sleep apnea or snoring. Correcting misalignment with braces can give the tongue more room to relax properly. This in turn allows for proper breathing through the nose.

Smiling is contagious. Nothing feels better than having a beautiful smile that you’re proud of. It’s a proven fact that a beautiful smile leads to higher self-esteem. At Quest Johnson Orthodontics, we believe that no matter what the reason for seeking orthodontic treatment, everyone deserves a smile they can be proud of.

 

7 Ways Your Smile Can Change As You Grow Older

Quest Johnson Orthodontics

Just as with most things in our bodies, your smile does change with age. From the teeth shifting to the enamel wearing down, the appearance and function of your teeth and bite evolve as you get older. The good news is, there are ways to minimize these age-related changes and keep your smile looking its best throughout your life.

Why does your smile change as you age? Some changes are due to natural biological processes, including bone remodeling and the tendency of the teeth to shift towards each other. Other reasons your smile changes with age may include:

Bottom Teeth Crowding - As you age, your jawbone loses density and shrinks. The mismatched size of the jawbone with teeth can lead to crowding of the bottom front teeth and this crowding can worsen with age. Crowding can also occur because other issues such as mouth breathing, gum disease, and even facial trauma.

Overlapping Teeth - As you get older and the jawbone changes, many people experience what’s known as physiologic mesial drift. It’s a slow, natural shifting of the teeth towards the front of your dental arch. As the teeth move towards the midline, they can overlap. It can be worsened by missing teeth, gum disease, bruxism, and decay.

Front teeth Gap - Space between two front teeth is referred to as a diastema, can be caused by gum disease, the tongue pushing between the front teeth when swallowing, or a discrepancy in jaw size that was never treated.

Collapsing Teeth - If you have gaps in your teeth, missing teeth that weren’t replaced or severe wear of the enamel, the teeth around the spaces can collapse inwardly. This is because the teeth try to fill in the empty spaces. As the teeth tilt or shift into the gaps, it will impact the appearance of your smile, as well as your bite. Missing teeth may also change your face shape.

Post-Orthodontic Teeth Shifting - Our bodies change our whole life, and our teeth change, too. If you had orthodontic treatment in the past, but forgot to wear your retainer, the teeth will naturally begin shifting back towards their old positions.

Wrong Bite - Misalignment of the teeth or jaw, known as malocclusion, doesn’t sort itself out. In many cases, if issues like crowding, spacing or an excessive overbite, underbite, open bite or crossbite aren’t treated, they will get worse as you get older. After years of living with a bad bite, you may also be dealing with the consequences of misalignment, such as tooth decay, gum disease, excessive wear of the enamel. These issues will create further changes to your smile.

Changes in the Length or Shape of Teeth - All of the biting and chewing you do causes the enamel to slowly wear down. Teeth grinding and clenching, known as bruxism, can speed up the process. This impacts your smile by making your teeth look shorter. Teeth can also change shape with age as they wear down. Gum recession does the opposite by exposing more tooth surface and making teeth look longer. It can also leave visible black spaces between the teeth as pockets form.

While these changes may be completely normal, that doesn’t mean you just have to live with them. Whether you’re eight or 80, the biological process of orthodontic treatment is the same. Age does not keep teeth from moving. Check out our website to learn more about the options we have for adult orthodontics and then give our Mooresville, Indiana office a call to schedule your initial exam.