Orthodontists are specialist dentists that treat improperly positioned teeth. Alignment issues affecting teeth can be caused by genetic influences, accidents and injury, an overcrowded jaw and even childhood habits such as sucking your thumb as a child.
The benefits of undergoing orthodontics in Winnipeg include: narrowing spaces between your teeth; making sure your jaw and teeth are aligned properly; straighter teeth; clear speech and easier ability to eat; and fixing distorted bites. Why are those things important?
Orthodontic treatment makes your teeth more beautiful
Too many people are ashamed of and hide their teeth behind pursed lips or the back of their hands for too many reasons — because they’re missing, stained or even because they’re crooked. If you’ve been ashamed of your oddly spaced or crooked teeth, undergoing orthodontics near you can free you from that shame and embarrassment. In a lot less time that you might expect, you can go from avoiding the camera to smiling broadly at weddings, birthday parties, graduations and special occasions. Have you repressed your most enthusiastic personality during job interviews or dates because you don’t want people to see your teeth? Stop sacrificing your best self to crooked teeth that can be straightened comfortably and discreetly in as little as months with the help of a dentist in Winnipeg.
Orthodontic treatment makes your mouth healthier
Orthodontic treatment is simultaneously a cosmetic dental procedure and a restorative dental procedure. By “restorative,” we mean a procedure that helps restore something lost or at risk. What does orthodontic treatment “restore?” Your oral health. When teeth are impacted, twisted, overlap or squeezed too tightly into too small a jaw, oral hygiene is harder to maintain. Brushing all of the surfaces of each tooth and flossing between each and every tooth and along each portion of your gums — two essential components of good oral hygiene — is much harder in a mouth that requires orthodontic treatment, but doesn’t receive it. According to the American Dental Association, patients who undergo orthodontic treatment are significantly less likely to suffer the following conditions: cavities, gingivitis, periodontitis, lost teeth, speech impairments and erosions to your tooth enamel.
You’ll eat more nutritionally
Teeth are a big part of your appearance and orthodontic work is an important cosmetic dentistry procedure, but that’s not all that they are. Impacted, twisted, overlapping and too-tightly-packed-in teeth undermine your ability to eat and chew properly. In an unfortunate twist of irony, some of the foods that are hardest to eat with misaligned teeth — crunchy fresh fruits and vegetables, and stringy and chewy proteins like beef and chicken — are some of the hardest to eat with improperly positioned teeth. A lot of people with misaligned teeth find themselves understandably eating foods much easier to eat and chew — soft foods like canned soup, processed food, puddings and ice creams and the like. A diet focused on all those things isn’t a healthy one. Rather, it’s a recipe for weight gain, obesity and ill health far beyond the condition of your gums, teeth and mouth.
To find out if your teeth are in or developing into positions that impose sacrifices on your health and future oral development, make an appointment with a dentist near you. If you’re already experiencing symptoms of misaligned teeth — such as jaw and tooth pain and plaque accumulation and tooth decay on hard to reach surfaces of your teeth — ask your dentist in Winnipeg if your appearance, lifestyle and health would improve if you received orthodontic treatment.