The benefits of straightening your teeth go much further than just aesthetics and an attractive smile. Aside from boosting your self-confidence, it also improves your overall oral health and helps prevent serious medical conditions.

Teeth straightening was earlier considered to be a procedure for children only, with steel braces being a common feature on teenagers. The advent of clear teeth aligners however has brought in a whole new perspective to teeth straightening with more adults also opting for this orthodontic procedure.

Here is a look at some important reasons why you should straighten your teeth:

Easier to Maintain Oral Hygiene

By straightening your crooked or overcrowded teeth, you get rid of hidden pockets where food debris collects and bacteria grow. If left unchecked, plaque can build up, leading to cavities, tooth decay, inflamed gums and onset of periodontal diseases. The latter refers to infection of the tooth’s support structure that leads to greater damage.

Straightened teeth means that you can brush and floss your teeth properly, leaving no space for germs to grow. Maintaining good oral hygiene also helps keep bad breath at bay.

Prevents jaw Pain and Strain

Those with crooked or crowded teeth tend to alter their jaw movements while speaking or eating. They do this subconsciously to compensate for their dental misalignment. The end result is that extra pressure is created on the gums, jaw and supporting bone. This can result in frequent headaches and ear or neck pain, etc.

Straightening teeth in such a scenario not only aligns your teeth, but your jaw movements too. This results in relaxed surrounding muscles, disappearance of pain and improvement in quality of life. And you get to chew more comfortably too!

Live Healthier and Longer

Having a mouth full of aligned teeth means the gums and surrounding tissue are better protected from bacterial infection and periodontal disease. According to a study done by NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information), periodontal disease can lead to a 24-35% higher risk of developing coronary artery disease. Reason enough to get your teeth aligned at the earliest!

Boosts Self-confidence

The primary motivation for most people for straightening teeth is to improve appearance and enhance self-esteem. A mouth-full of crooked teeth keeps you from smiling fully, making it harder to build relationships.

With so many options available for straightening your teeth, its now getting easier to straighten your teeth than ever before. There are a variety of new-gen aligners available that are hardly visible to the naked eye. It has increasingly gotten more adults opting to straighten out their teeth. Invisible braces or aligners such as OrthoFX are comfortable to wear, easy to remove when eating/drinking and highly effective too. Straightening teeth has never been so easy!

References

• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2596495/