British scientists claim that 8 out of 10 people have crooked teeth. At first glance, slight crooked teeth are not such a global problem. Indeed, most people don't even think about why their teeth become crooked and simply ignore this dental problem. But in fact, crooked front (lower or upper) teeth can not only cause psychological discomfort, but also cause serious health problems.
What types of crooked teeth are there?
In the understanding of most people, crooked teeth are those that are very different in position, shape or size from those next to them, which is, in principle, true. However, curvatures are different and form at several levels. So, there are anomalies of teeth, dentition and their relationship, that is, bite. The first group includes free-standing teeth, noticeably different from the rest in shape, size and location. The second includes dentition that has formed incorrectly as a result of the abnormal eruption of several teeth at once. The third group includes curvatures at the jaw level, which lead to improper closure of the dentition. The smile of people with an abnormal bite is also far from ideal. Now let's try to figure out why people grow crooked teeth.
Do braces make it difficult to eat?
Once installed, you will need to learn how to eat in them. This period takes on average 3-7 days.
At this time, give preference to soft and liquid foods. Cut fruits and vegetables into small pieces. Avoid fibrous and sticky foods.
Over time, you will be able to eat almost everything except Coca-Cola (can dissolve glue), hard foods (nuts, crackers, chocolate) and sticky sweets (chocolate, cookies or caramel bars). You should also not chew gum.
Why does a child grow crooked teeth?
There are plenty of reasons why teeth become crooked, and the main one is genetics. Take a close look at the smiles of your parents and grandparents - it is quite possible that you or your baby inherited uneven teeth from one of them.
Another factor that contributes to malocclusion and crooked teeth is the use of incorrect pacifiers and feeding bottles. The hole in the bottle should be located not in the center, but at the bottom of the nipple, so that the baby’s tongue remains in a natural position while eating. Otherwise, the lower jaw will develop incorrectly. As for the pacifier, it should be as thin as possible at the base, otherwise the baby’s teeth will always be in an open position, which will lead to their non-closing. Remember also one more rule - the pacifier should be abandoned before the child turns one year old. Due to prolonged use of a pacifier, a baby may develop an infantile type of swallowing - when the tongue, while swallowing saliva, rests on the teeth and thereby puts strong pressure on them. As a result, the child develops an open bite, which will require a lot of time and effort to correct.
Let us separately highlight another reason for the development of curvature, namely, the lack of proper care for baby teeth. Sooner or later, bottle caries will form on uncleaned teeth, which, as you know, develops quite quickly. If you notice a carious cavity in your baby, immediately take the child to the doctor, otherwise the disease will not only destroy the baby tooth, but also damage the germ of the permanent one. And, as you know, the absence of at least one tooth or its improper eruption can lead to changes in the bite.
In addition, teeth become crooked due to mouth breathing, which develops as a result of frequent rhinitis and other ENT diseases, bad childhood habits such as biting cheeks and lips, constantly holding foreign objects in the mouth, thumb sucking and putting the tongue between the teeth, as well as due to rickets, diseases of the nervous system and maternal diseases during pregnancy.
Effect on posture
The human body is a single system, where a problem in one area is reflected in others. The condition of the skeletal complex as a whole depends on the health of each part. Jaw problems immediately make themselves known in changes in the position of the cervical spine, which, in turn, is closely connected with the thoracic spine.
Correct posture is characterized by a clear vertical line. It’s easy to check this yourself; just come close to the wall and check the points of contact. They should be located in the area of the back of the head, shoulder blades and buttocks.
The forward movement of the upper dentition provokes an overweight of the head and a sinking of the chest. At the same time, the tone deteriorates, and chronic overstrain is observed.
Overweight of the lower jaw leads to a general tilting of the upper body, disruption of the facial muscles, and difficulty breathing.
Crooked front teeth in adults
Teeth can also become crooked in adulthood, for example, as a result of injury or the same bad habits. If you constantly hold a pencil in your mouth, bite your nails or seeds, then sooner or later chips and irregularities will appear on your teeth, and they will have to be corrected. Many patients at dental clinics also complain that their smile is ruined by crooked, that is, incorrectly erupted wisdom teeth. Let's say more, even evenly standing “eights” can change the shape of the dentition - for example, in the case when the patient does not have a very large jaw and there is simply not enough space for “wise” teeth.
However, most often dental anomalies in adulthood appear due to the long-term absence of one or more teeth. If they are not replaced in time with dental implants or at least temporary dentures, then the dentition will soon begin to move apart, trying to fill the gaps that have formed. You know the result of such movements - crooked teeth and their improper closure.
How the face changes due to impaired jaw closure
The natural cast depends on heredity, but some factors can distort it beyond recognition. This is a clear example of the consequences of malocclusion:
- The accelerated development of the upper plate is reflected in the lower part of the face, making it weak-willed, which is facilitated by a sunken chin. At the same time, the muscles begin to pull the corners of the lips down, and the slightly open mouth complements the impression of indecision and weakness of will. Over time, the process increases, the enamel is erased, the chewing teeth are deformed and the overlap of the upper incisors with the lower ones becomes even greater.
- A deep bite visually reduces the diameter of the oval of the face, protruding the lip forward. A habit appears of squeezing them into a thin line, which gives a dissatisfied, disgusted expression that repels interlocutors. The muscles remain constantly tense, which causes pain in the neck.
- The rapid formation of the lower jaw with the lag of the upper jaw makes the facial features heavier, which turns into an offended or angry mask. Accompanied by increased tone of the chewing and neck muscles and deforms posture.
- An open one does not allow the lips to close completely, which gives rise to the effect of sunken cheeks.
- The loss of several teeth leads to visible asymmetry, which provokes disproportionate growth, interferes with the normal grinding of food, forces it to be moved to one side, which leads to aggravation of the situation.
Crooked wisdom teeth
Crooked wisdom teeth are quite common. Due to lack of space in the dentition, they grow either inside the mouth, or to the side, pressing on a neighbor, or in the cheek. This, as a rule, does not lead to anything good - bleeding of the gums may occur, and when the wisdom tooth grows sideways, destruction of the roots and enamel of the neighboring, seventh tooth. As a result, caries will begin to develop on it, which will lead to a constant inflammatory process. All this can also be accompanied by damage to the soft tissues of the cheek, which is fraught with the appearance of benign or even malignant neoplasms. This is why timely removal of wisdom teeth is necessary. The consequences of crooked wisdom teeth will be too serious if left in place.
Let's sum it up
While the problem may seem insignificant to the average person, it is much deeper and more dangerous. The impact of malocclusion, which means the occurrence of an impressive number of disorders in the digestive, respiratory, and nervous systems, is very great. An unaesthetic appearance can be an obstacle to obtaining prestigious work related to public speaking. Speech distortion interferes with communication, lowers self-esteem, and causes complexes to appear. Curvature of posture, headache and feeling of heaviness in the neck, inability to open the mouth wide are also considered secondary disorders that appeared as a result of incorrect development and closure of the upper and lower jaw.
Understanding what a dental malocclusion means, the question of what to do if it is established should not arise. It is necessary to seek help from dentistry as soon as possible, since in the early stages, correction of the condition is much easier.
How to fix crooked teeth?
The method of correcting crooked teeth depends on the patient’s age and type of anomaly. Thus, orthodontic treatment for children is carried out using various removable devices, such as trainers and plates. They correct the location of not only the teeth, but also the jaws, and also normalize the functioning of the muscles of the maxillofacial system and remove excess pressure from the dentition from the cheeks and tongue. However, treatment with removable equipment is effective up to a certain age - up to 10, maximum 12 years. During this period, the child develops a permanent bite, which is corrected using braces or transparent removable aligners.
You can become the owner of a beautiful smile even as an adult. In order to straighten teeth and eliminate some malocclusions in adults, braces are most often used. There are a great variety of braces, ranging from economical but reliable metal ones, to expensive lingual ones, which are attached to the lingual side of the teeth - everyone can choose a design according to their taste and capabilities. Moreover, lower and upper crooked teeth can be corrected without braces; they have an excellent alternative - clear aligners.
An alternative to wearing braces is the restoration of crooked teeth with veneers and crowns, as well as composite materials. In the first case, the procedure does not take much time, but it has one serious drawback - the teeth are ground down before installing orthopedic structures, and wearing dentures becomes lifelong. As for artistic restoration, it involves changing the shape of a tooth using composite materials, which are also used to make fillings. This technique requires a high level of skill from the specialist, and further careful care from the patient, since the composite must be periodically polished in order for the teeth to look aesthetically pleasing. By the way, girls and boys with crooked teeth who have not yet turned 18 years old can also correct their teeth with the help of restoration and orthopedic structures. The only condition is that an adult must be present when signing the contract for the provision of these services.
It is worth noting that the above-mentioned services of Moscow dentists eliminate anomalies only at the level of the teeth and dentition; it is impossible to correct the bite with their help - for this there are orthodontic structures and maxillofacial surgery.
Important!
Correcting crooked teeth in childhood and adolescence is much easier and faster than in adulthood. Therefore, if you do not want your child to wear braces for many months, contact an orthodontist as soon as possible.
Surgical bite correction
Another way to correct the position of teeth in the jaw is to perform orthognathic surgery, during which the size and position of the jaws are changed. The operation is preceded by a period of wearing braces. The orthodontic structure will have to be worn for a certain time even after the intervention.
Surgery is indicated for patients only in extreme cases when braces as an independent method of correction cannot correct the patient’s anomaly. The intervention is performed in a hospital setting as planned after a period of preliminary preparation. You will have to spend several weeks in a hospital bed, since the recovery period is quite difficult and the patient requires constant medical supervision.
How necessary is it to correct crooked teeth?
So, we figured out what to do if your teeth are crooked. But what happens if they are not corrected? At first, problems with hygiene will arise, since uneven teeth are quite difficult to clean. As a result, caries will quietly develop in hard-to-reach places, which after some time will penetrate deep into the tooth and then spread to the surrounding bone. The result of all the processes described above will be the loss of one or more teeth, the absence of which will lead to deformation of the bite and the appearance of the patient.
However, that’s not all - due to the abnormal arrangement of the teeth and jaws, the load on them will be distributed incorrectly, which will lead to abrasion, disruption of the temporomandibular joint and chewing muscles, and will also affect the respiratory and digestive systems. Thus, crooked teeth will ruin not only your appearance, but also your health. Therefore, you should not postpone your visit to the orthodontist.
Does asymmetry affect speech?
The formation of clear diction depends not only on the tone of the tip of the tongue, but also on the correct position of the jaws. Skewing in any direction makes the pronunciation more muffled, blurred, and inexpressive. In this case, you can achieve significant improvement, but you need to start with bite correction.
The absence of several teeth has a serious impact on the quality of speech. For children, this is temporary; for adults, the problem needs to be solved comprehensively, without leaving it to chance.
How to prevent the development of dental anomalies
The best way to solve the problem of crooked teeth is to avoid crooked teeth. If you want your baby to grow beautiful, straight teeth, carefully monitor his oral health, feed from orthodontic bottles and give him the right pacifiers, watch his posture and try to diversify his diet with solid foods, and also do not allow him to suck his thumb and chew foreign objects. items. As for adults, they should also give up bad habits that spoil their teeth and learn to restore lost ones in a timely manner. And most importantly, don’t forget to visit the dentist at least once every six months and be sure to bring your child to the appointment.
Fifth method. Soft, clear and removable aligners
If you don’t yet know how you can correct crooked teeth without braces, then be sure to pay attention to aligners. They work exactly the same as braces. At the same time, their appearance is much more aesthetic. The aligners are made of transparent hypoallergenic silicone; from a distance they are invisible to others, but up close they shine like natural enamel.
The photo shows the aligners
The aligners can be removed when eating and before daily oral hygiene. Many patients say that they are easy to adapt to. Unlike braces, they do not rub or injure the mucous membranes, do not impose restrictions on food1, do not complicate oral hygiene and do not require the purchase of additional hygiene products (for example, brushes, V-shaped brushes). However, the entire course of bite correction with aligners may require from 5 to 40 sets, which makes treatment expensive. It is also worth noting that aligners will not cope with the most serious malocclusion pathologies.
Read the article on the topic: “TOP 5 popular brands of aligners for teeth straightening with photos and reviews.”
Crooked teeth - BEFORE and AFTER photos
Most famous people could not boast of a perfect smile. Below are photos of crooked teeth BEFORE and AFTER orthodontic treatment.
Matthew Lewis
Straightening his teeth did nothing to diminish Matthew Lewis's masculine charisma, and his new smile added to his attractiveness.
Emma Watson
Actress Emma Watson did not retain the “charming childish irregularity” that delighted critics during the “Harry Potter” era and straightened her crooked teeth.
David Beckham
Long known as a style icon in the world of football, David Beckham simply couldn't give up his crooked front teeth.
Demmy Moor
It's hard to believe, but this is the same woman. Demi Moore's flawless smile is the most important feature of her radiant beauty.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo has decisively abandoned the gap between his teeth, which many consider just a funny feature that gives individuality. The football player preferred an even, beautiful smile to crooked teeth.
Etiology
Factors predisposing to the formation of a deep bite are hidden in the prenatal period. Hereditary predisposition, infectious diseases suffered during pregnancy, mechanical injuries and chronic diseases (for example, anemia) can cause such negative consequences.
Causes of deep bite:
- Prenatal: toxicosis,
- intrauterine infectious diseases,
- multiple pregnancy,
- reduced oxygen content in the body.
- protein-energy malnutrition,
- late teething,
