A Complete Guide to Teeth Straightening in NZ

Did you know that 9 out of 10 people have teeth that are at least slightly misaligned? While you might think that a misalignment might not be much of a cause for worry, crooked or crowded teeth can be very detrimental to your dental health. This is because you most likely won’t be able to brush or floss your teeth properly which can lead to serious issues such as cavities, tooth decay, and gingivitis.

Luckily, teeth straightening, NZ, is the solution to all your dental woes. By choosing the right braces, you can straighten your teeth so not only will you be able to take better care of your teeth, but you will ultimately have a more attractive smile as well. However, how should you go about choosing the right teeth braces for you?

This guide will walk you through everything you need to know. So, by the time you’re done reading, you can be sure that the braces you choose will be perfect for you. To start, let’s take a look at why having straight teeth is so important in the first place.

The Benefits of Having Straight Teeth

You might think that the only benefit of having straight teeth is having a more attractive and photogenic smile thanks to cosmetic dentistry. However, as mentioned before, having crooked teeth can actually be quite harmful to your overall oral health. By straightening your teeth, you can leave the detriments of crooked teeth behind and instead embrace the benefits.

For example, people with straight teeth tend to be able to better digest food. This is because crooked teeth are not the best when it comes to breaking up food into small pieces. When your stomach tries to digest food in large chunks, it might have difficulty.

Straight teeth, on the other hand, have no problem with this. Having crooked teeth may also hinder your ability to speak.

If your front teeth are at an awkward angle, it may be difficult for your tongue to hit them and produce words. By straightening them, your tongue will have enough space in your mouth to move around and enunciate as it should.

Crooked teeth may put unnecessary strain on your jaw and neck as well. At first, this seems to not make much sense. However, the positioning of your teeth is actually very important when it comes to the alignment of your jaw and neck.

Crooked teeth can strain the muscles in your jaw and neck and you might not even realize it. This might cause headaches or jaw aches. By straightening your teeth, you can allow these muscles to relax.

The Disadvantages of Having Crooked Teeth

We have already explored some of the disadvantages of having crooked teeth, but there are still more to consider. One of the most obvious disadvantages is that many people with crooked teeth are embarrassed about how their teeth look. People with crooked teeth may try to hide their teeth by keeping themselves from smiling or laughing.

They may also feel more isolated because of how they feel about their teeth. This, of course, is no way to live your life. No one should be embarrassed about their teeth and their smile. This dental shame often goes beyond the crookedness of the teeth themselves.

As mentioned before, depending on how severe the crookedness of your teeth are, crooked teeth can be difficult to clean. This can make them appear yellower and less healthy. All of these dental issues can slowly pile up and diminish one’s self-confidence.

Beyond the diminishing of self-confidence, crooked teeth can also cause physical discomfort. We have already seen how crooked teeth can misalign your jaw and cause headaches. This may not sound too bad, especially if you’re already used to headaches.

However, the problems that crooked teeth can cause can worsen over time. For example, if your teeth really skew the position of your jaw, you might develop TMJ syndrome, also known as temporomandibular joint syndrome. This is a very painful condition involving the inflammation of the jaw joint.

The pain that TMJ syndrome causes is often very hard to deal with. More than that, this condition can make it difficult to open and close your jaw during talking or eating. Fortunately, you can avoid many of these problems by fixing your crooked teeth in the first place.

How Does Teeth Straightening Work?

Teeth straightening has long been understood as a concept and many people throughout history have tried straightening their teeth. However, the science of teeth straightening has only become truly developed very recently thanks to various types of braces. Back in the old days, dentists only were able to offer metal braces.

Metal braces were very common for teeth straightening, but they had several faults. For example, food could easily get lodged between the braces and cause cavities. This is especially true since it is often difficult to brush behind the braces.

Fortunately, there are now many other options for braces including clear braces. The science of teeth straightening has to do with the strain that braces put on your teeth. You can actually feel this strain when you first get your braces.

Many people tend to feel discomfort in their teeth due to their braces and the discomfort often goes away within a week. This is caused by how your braces are slowly pulling your teeth out of their crooked positions and into a straighter formation. Since braces straighten your teeth so slowly, they don’t damage your teeth or gums.

Depending on how crooked your teeth are, you may need to wear your braces or aligners for several months. After your teeth are straight, you won’t have to wear braces or aligners anymore, but don’t think you’ll be able to start ignoring your teeth. After your braces are done with, you’ll have to wear a retainer so your teeth won’t shift back to their original crooked positions.

You can wear your retainer whenever you feel like it. However, dentists recommend that you wear your retainer throughout the night while you sleep for the best results.

What to Know About Clear Braces

Clear braces or aligners are a very modern innovation and one of your best braces options. As the name suggests, clear braces are completely clear and are very difficult, if not impossible, to notice. Invisible braces  are unique in that your dentist does not need to attach them to your teeth.

Instead, your dentist will take moulds of your teeth. These moulds will be sent off to a lab where professionals will create a series of aligner trays constructed specially for you. Each of these trays is slightly different and you will need to switch to a new tray every few weeks.

This is because after wearing your first aligner tray for a few weeks, your teeth will already be beginning to shift. At a certain point, your first aligner tray will not be enough to continue moving and realigning your teeth which is why you will need to switch to subsequent aligners. The benefit of this is that you will not need to return to your dentist as with other braces.

Instead, you will be able to deal with your own teeth straightening in the comfort and convenience of your home. Another benefit of clear aligners is that you can remove them from your mouth whenever you feel like it. Most dentists recommend that you remove your clear braces before you eat since eating with them on can damage their shape.

Even though you can take them off whenever you feel like it, you should aim to keep them in for the majority of the day to get the best and fastest results. Yet another benefit of clear aligners is that they can treat severe tooth misalignments as well, if not better, than other types of braces. They can even treat certain jaw misalignments such as overbites and underbites.

All You Need to Know About Teeth Straightening, NZ

By the end of this article, you should know everything about the options for teeth straightening, NZ. While there are plenty of traditional orthodontic options such as metal braces, modern innovations such as clear braces tend to give the best, easiest, and most convenient results.

To learn more about clear aligners, explore our website here.

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