Not every person is fortunate enough to be born with a straight smile. Lucky for you, Smiles of Palmetto Bay can make that dream a reality at any age! Today, we’ll cover five benefits of straight teeth as a result of orthodontic treatment!
Why Should I Get Straighter Teeth?
Dr. Ross will be the one to determine whether you need an orthodontic appliance like braces or clear aligners. These are some of the typical reasons for pursuing this manner of treatment:
- Crooked Teeth
- Malocclusion (Misaligned bite)
- Impacted Teeth
- Crowding
- Jaw Issues
- Spacing Issues
Straightening Out Your Smile
When you come into our office for an evaluation, we will go into detail to determine the best possible plan for your circumstances. There are a number of treatment options that exist for alignment, and while the process will vary from person to person, here’s a general timeline:
- Consultation: The first step for all of our adult and pediatric patients is to schedule a free consultation in our office. This important visit allows us to evaluate your orthodontic needs and usually includes taking x-rays, 3D scans, or teeth impressions for a thorough diagnosis.
- Treatment Plan: After this assessment, Dr. Ross and our team will work with you to explain a course of treatment, including factors like estimated cost and duration. This is a personalized plan that will address any and all problems you might be experiencing.
- Orthodontic Appliances:
- Braces: We carry traditional metal and clear braces, which are often utilized for our youngest patients but can be a fantastic option for adolescents and adults. There’s a reason they’ve been popular for so long!
- Invisalign: Dr. Ross is distinguished amongst providers who carry Invisalign for his extensive experience, so you can be confident in beautiful results if you opt for clear aligners with us!
- Routine Visits: With any orthodontic treatment, you will be required to attend follow-up appointments to make adjustments to your appliance and to supervise your progress.
- Oral Hygiene and Diet: Whether you have a fixed or removable appliance, maintaining your oral health is fundamental to success. You will need to constantly brush and floss to prevent bacteria from building up and causing decay. Your diet is also key—the foods you choose to eat can make or break your appliance, literally!
- Retainers: These are pretty self-explanatory- they maintain your straight teeth! Diligently wearing retainers prevents your teeth from shifting back into their original positions.
Remember, the duration of treatment all depends on the severity of your misalignment and your own cooperation! As long as you stay on top of things, it’ll be over before you know it.
5 Advantages of Straight Teeth
With this process in mind, we can now talk about some of the things that make having a straighter smile so sweet!
- Better Oral Health: When your teeth overlap, it can create tight spaces where food and bacteria can get trapped. But when they’re properly aligned, it reduces your risk of decay and other oral health complications that can grow serious as time passes.
- Aesthetic Appeal and Self-Confidence: While aesthetics aren’t the only benefit of a straight smile, they’re still a wonderful part of it! An attractive smile is often directly connected to your self-esteem.
- Reduced Risk of Dental Trauma: Straight teeth are usually less vulnerable to serious damage in the case of an accident than protruding ones since they aren’t as exposed within your mouth.
- Better Chewing and Digestion: Your ability to chew can be enhanced with a well-aligned bite, allowing for better digestion of food.
- Prevention of Jaw Problems: Jaw-related conditions like temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders are less likely with a straight smile. It alleviates stress on your jaw joint and the surrounding muscles. If you have especially severe jaw misalignment, many offices will communicate with specialists like maxillofacial surgeons to find an effective solution.
Function Over Beauty (Always!)
Never forget that your oral health is the most important reason to seek treatment. Again, we aren’t saying that aesthetics aren’t motivation enough, but health should be the priority. The earlier the orthodontic intervention, the better—and we love to help kids in our office! But there’s not a window for this kind of treatment, so don’t think you don’t qualify as an adult.
The Best Kind of Commitment
A major role of our team is to help educate you before you tackle any treatment, and hopefully, this blog has done just that! Our Palmetto Bay office is just a call away at 305-831-7290.