The usage of braces goes way beyond cosmetic purposes. So the burning question is how a common person with no previous dental experience can determine whether his oral health is a dire need of braces or not? Well, there are certain explicit signs for that.
Usually, unbalanced or misaligned teeth issues arise during a person's teenage years. That’s when his jaw and teeth are growing and getting matured. But there is nothing to worry about because these dental issues are quite common amongst teens. There if you have a teenager in your home going through the same unbalanced teeth issue you need to look at options for braces for teens.
Following are the six signs that tell you that you need braces:
- Biting Problems
It is commonly noticed that people ignore this problem and carry on with the malfunctioning teeth. One may get along with bite issues for the time being without confronting the problem. But this delay in addressing the problem will certainly lead to major concerns.
Let’s dive into the most common biting problems:
- Overbite: To an extent, we all indulge in over-biting. That being said, if your upper teeth are overlapping the bottom set of teeth by quite some margin, it is a symptom of abnormality. You must address it right away.
- Crossbite: Crossbite refers to the misalignment of teeth. When you bring upper and lower teeth together but they don’t stand in line, that’s crossbite. If you carry on with it being unchecked then there will be major wear and tear of your teeth over time. Be it the misalignment of jaw or teeth, braces have them covered.
- Underbite: Underbite means your upper teeth are overlapped by lower teeth. Broadly put, this condition stands in stark contrast with the overbite. Unlike the above two types, an underbite is easy to identify because it changes the facial outlook of the affected person.
- Openbite: Openbite occurs when teeth disproportionate in such a way that they don’t touch at all. Excessive thumb sucking is said to be the primary reason that causes an open bite.
If your teeth are currently experiencing any of these mishaps, you must get braces at the earliest.
- Premature Loss of Baby Teeth
Baby teeth are also dubbed as milk teeth. Typically, children lose milk teeth at the age of six. This is considered as the ripe time for developed teeth to take the roots. But sometimes this harmony is disturbed by premature removal of primary teeth.
When a permanent tooth is exposed to wear and tear while it is still not fully grown, the following drawbacks become inevitable:
- Teeth lose their order. In technical terms, this phenomenon is known as malocclusion.
- You can’t chew your food properly and, as a result, you have to endure pain while chewing your food.
- Talking about emotional downsides, it sucks confidence out of your personality.
If you lost your baby teeth before you turned six, rest assured, all above-said problems would be pursuing you. Again, the solution rests with braces.
- Jaw Pain
Unlike many orthodontic issues, jaw pain is not visible. But that does not mean you can undermine it. When it comes to causing discomfort, jaw pain is at par with its counterparts. Sadly, the majority of people take this problem less seriously until it is transformed into something big and devastating.
As far as the treatment of TMJ (Temporal Mandibular Joint disorder) is concerned, there is no shortage of instruments to counter it. That said, nothing comes close to the effectiveness of braces.
Are you wondering what makes braces an ideal solution for TMJ? Well, it does not take an expert to unpack this.
Dentists claim that more than anything else, bite issues are the major culprit behind TMJ. And we have advocated the efficiency of braces regarding dealing with bite issues throughout the article.
In some cases, jaw clenching is the underlying cause of TMJ. Once again, by their very nature, braces play a pivotal role in the relaxation of jaws.
- Speech Issues
Speech related issues are always linked with things such as problematic listening, genes, and so on. But not many people are aware of the fact that our teeth equally contribute to either empower or weaken our speaking faculty.
If your teeth are not positioned in the right order, you will have a hard time articulating particular sounds. Thus, speech-centric problems are another powerful sign you need braces.
- Lisps: Many speech defects fall outside the scope of braces. Therefore, to give you a better idea, braces are handy to deal with the following flaws: Lisps: Sounds like “s” and “z” can only be drawn properly when the tongue touches the roof of the mouth robustly. But people who suffer from lisps are unable to do so due to open bite. Braces are a potent tool to deal with this nuisance.
- Whistling: whistling is another common speech impediment that is often the result of a yawning gap between teeth. Braces are extremely handy at keeping the undue distance among teeth in check.
- Crowding
Are you finding it tough to get rid of bad breath despite your best efforts at keeping your teeth clean and smelling fresh? If yes, then you may have more teeth than what your mouth can accommodate. Having a crooked or crowded set of teeth means you can’t clean them properly. Resultantly, no matter how hard you try, you can’t keep the bad breath at bay for a long time. Crowding takes place when permanent teeth start to grow before baby teeth completely bid farewell.
Bad breath is a strong indicator that you may be keeping up with crowding. Braces can effortlessly put an end to this challenge. Though crooked teeth are more common in kids, teenagers are not completely immune to this problem.
- Gap Between the Teeth
The spaces between teeth are called diastema. These gaps are fairly common in the top two teeth without making the distinction between children and adults. There are various reasons why people end up going through diastema.
For some people, the disorder comes from their parents. While many people create the gap own their own by indulging extravagant thumb-sucking. Whatever the reason may be, this can lead to severe decomposition of teeth down the road. You can consider diastema as an obvious sign of opting for braces. Be it removable or invisible, both types of braces are capable to shrink the undo space.
Conclusion
Braces are not something that is newly introduced. However, the general public knows very little about them. Getting braces for your teeth is very important if you are dealing with the above-mentioned problems. Take your teeth related issues seriously and have regular dental checks to maintain a healthy jaw and clean set of teeth.