Knowing whether you need braces is essential to achieving a beautiful, confident smile and maintaining oral health. Many people, adults and children alike, experience dental problems and symptoms that braces can help solve, but they do not realize it. This blog explores the prevalent signs that show you need braces, assisting you in making informed decisions regarding your oral health care.
Common Signs You Need Braces
There are many ways to tell if you or your child need braces. Crooked teeth, creaking, overcrowding, and visible gaps between teeth are all signs that you may need orthodontic treatment. Braces are not just for making your smile look beautiful. They also help treat emerging dental problems and prevent others that may develop later. The following are signs to watch out for to know whether you need dental braces.
Speech Difficulties
At times, orthodontic problems can impact your speech. If you experience difficulty pronouncing some sounds, it might be because of your tongue and teeth position. Misaligned teeth may inhibit proper articulation. This makes it challenging to talk clearly. Should you realize you have this problem in you or your child, seek a dentist’s advice. They could assist you in determining whether braces are an ideal solution.
Clicking Sounds or Jaw Pain
Another indication that you need braces is when you hear clicking sounds or feel jaw pain when opening your mouth or chewing. These signs can mean there are problems with jaw alignment. Thus, you may need to undergo orthodontic treatment with braces to avoid more complications. You want to consult an orthodontist if you often feel fatigue or stress in your jaw after eating.
Crowded or Crooked Teeth
Among the most obvious indications you might require braces is when your teeth are noticeably crowded or crooked. When teeth are misaligned or overlapped, it can be difficult to clean them well. This situation raises the risk of gum disease, cavities, abnormal enamel wear, and tooth decay. That is because of plaque accumulation on teeth surfaces and the difficult-to-reach places.
Gum disease is among the leading factors that cause periodontitis to develop, and people with crowded teeth are at a higher risk of developing this disease. If you realize that brushing is less effective or struggle to floss between teeth, consider undergoing orthodontic treatment with braces.
If you do not know whether you have crowded or crooked teeth, observe your teeth in a mirror. For crooked teeth, check whether all of your teeth are balanced together and whether they form a straight-line pattern. For crowded teeth, you may see that some teeth are squeezed together more than others. Alternatively, you may look at other people’s teeth and notice they do not appear as squeezed as yours.
Another way to know whether your teeth are crowded is to use dental floss. Should it be difficult for the floss to slide between teeth, your teeth might be considered crowded. Consult your orthodontist regarding placing braces when you see this irregularity. The braces can assist you in achieving the correct spacing of your teeth.
Many factors can cause crowded or crooked teeth. In some individuals, the jawbones are merely too small to accommodate all the teeth properly, making teeth shift and squeeze together. This often occurs because of genetic heritage; in many cases, a person inherits the upper jawbone from one parent and the bottom one from the other. Other patients might have crowding after they grow wisdom teeth. In this case, wisdom teeth make their front teeth appear crooked since their bone support and roots are weaker than those of the rear teeth.
Malocclusion
Malocclusion or a bad bite is when your lower and upper teeth do not align or fit together properly whenever you close your mouth or have a misaligned bite. When you have malocclusion, your lower and upper teeth do not fit together. It may occur due to having crooked or crowded teeth. Or it might occur because your lower and upper jaws do not align properly. If you do not address malocclusion, it can result in gum disease, tooth erosion, and other dental health problems.
Malocclusion is usually a sign that you require braces. Severe cases may necessitate oral surgery. There are different types of malocclusion:
Overjet
An overjet is when the upper front teeth stick out further than they should. An overjet is also called horizontal overlap and is different from an overbite, which is also called vertical overlap.
If you are unsure of having an overjet, observe your upper front teeth closely and check whether they stick out. Also, check whether you chew food more with the upper teeth than the bottom ones. Overjets are more visible. Thus, there is a higher chance of them being detected early enough. Taking no action when you have an overjet could lead to eating problems and trauma to your front teeth. A qualified orthodontist can assist you in returning those teeth to their proper position.
Overbite
This is a deep vertical bite. It occurs when the upper front teeth excessively overlap the lower front teeth. Not only is this condition conspicuous, but it also causes many oral health issues. It brings an increased risk of trauma to the front teeth and the chances of the front teeth being fractured in the event of an injury. An overbite can also result in extreme gum recession and tooth wear. An overbite can result from jaw pain issues or crooked teeth. Thus, you may need braces to correct this alignment problem.
Underbite
Something you might not see as a problem with your dental health is an underbite. An underbite is the opposite of an overbite. However, it causes the same problems if you leave it untreated. An underbite occurs when the lower front teeth have protruded far in front more than the other teeth.
So, like other indications, the ideal way to check whether you have an underbite is by observing your teeth closely in front of a mirror. Check whether the bottom front teeth are further in front than your other teeth. Also, observe whether you chew food more using your lower teeth than the upper ones.
An underbite might not be as noticeable or obvious as an overbite usually is. If you are unsure whether you have an underbite, observe how you eat your next snack or meal.
Not treating an underbite may lead to jaw pain later. You may also find it challenging to eat some foods. Dental braces can assist in shifting these teeth to their usual position, alleviating any potential jaw pain you might have.
Openbite
This is when the lower and upper front teeth do not touch when you close your mouth or bite down on something. You may need braces if most of your teeth do not touch or appear misaligned in an average bite. Generally, an open bite causes difficulty biting and speech problems.
Crossbite
Crossbite is another indicator that you need braces. This is when the upper teeth fit inside the lower teeth whenever you close your mouth. A crossbite is an abnormal bite; you should not leave it untreated.
A crossbite can result in asymmetric jaw growth if not treated. It can also lead to extreme tooth wear, increased gum recession for the affected teeth, and problems with speaking and breathing. You can fix a crossbite with braces. However, should you wait a long time before treatment, you may be unable to restore worn or fractured teeth.
When you have a misaligned bite, your likelihood of decaying food debris and plaque accumulating between and on teeth increases. The decaying food and plaque can result in dental abscess, gingivitis, periodontal disease, and tooth loss, causing cleaning and brushing to be challenging and, in many scenarios, incomplete.
- Malocclusion might also lead to difficulty chewing, resulting in gastrointestinal discomfort and sore jaws.
- Excessive overbites may cause your lower front teeth to damage the gum tissue on the roof of the mouth, making chewing painful.
- Jaw misalignment can cause strained and tight muscles, leading to recurring headaches.
Difficulty Chewing or Biting
Do you rarely chew your food before swallowing it? Do you feel like you do not chew your food enough? Or do you find it difficult to bite your food? Well, this may indicate that you require braces. These will help you correctly align your teeth and jaw to bite and chew food. This will have massive benefits since food will become more disintegrated during digestion. That leads to an easier digestion process; you will receive more nutrients from your food and have better gut health.
In addition, after treatment with braces, you will have more energy whenever you begin to chew your food, and you will do it better. At times, failing to chew your food adequately can lead to you lacking energy.
Gapped Teeth
Crowding or crooked teeth is not the only thing that can result in problems. Having visible spacing between teeth or gapped teeth may also impact your jaw and bite function, which is another sign that you need dental braces. Visible spacing between teeth could be due to large gaps between teeth, proportionally small teeth, or missing teeth. This sign should be more apparent. That is because you will realize that your teeth are not as together or even as those of other people.
Because spaces between teeth are not pleasing, consider having an orthodontist place braces to enhance your appearance. Having dental braces can assist in solving this spacing problem by tightening the spaces between your teeth and shifting those teeth close together.
Signs that Your Child Requires Braces
Telling whether your child requires dental braces can be quite challenging. If your child has crowded or crooked milk teeth, it could indicate that they will require braces later.
Early or Late Loss of Baby Teeth
For young ones, losing milk teeth too late or too early can indicate possible issues with their permanent teeth growing correctly. Should your child lose their milk teeth prematurely, it may result in misalignment or crowding as the permanent teeth sprout. It is essential to monitor the eruption of adult teeth and consult a dental professional. They can guide you on whether the child will need dental braces as the permanent teeth grow.
Other symptoms include:
- Teeth that do not come together even when the mouth is shut completely
- Using a pacifier or thumb-sucking past the age of two
- Jaws that click or make other sounds
- Being susceptible to biting the roof of the mouth, the tongue, or the inside of the cheek accidentally.
- Breathing via the mouth
Poor nutrition at the toddler and infant stage, genetics, or poor oral hygiene are all reasons why a child might end up requiring braces.
Additional Considerations
Even though the above signs are prevalent indicators of needing braces, it is crucial to note that every person’s dental case is special. Factors like oral hygiene habits, genetics, and general health can affect dental braces’ suitability.
Early intervention often results in more favorable results as far as orthodontic treatment is concerned. Addressing alignment problems during childhood can prevent more serious issues from emerging later. Also, early treatment might lower the need for more extensive dental procedures in adulthood.
If you notice any of the mentioned indications in your child or yourself, setting up an appointment with a qualified orthodontist should be your next crucial step. At this consultation, the dental professional will perform a comprehensive exam of your jaw and teeth alignment and recommend the possible treatment options customized to your needs.
Find a Professional Orthodontist Near Me
Recognizing the indications that show you may need dental braces is essential to achieving an attractive smile and maintaining good dental health. These signs, be it difficulty chewing, crooked teeth, speech issues, jaw pain, or an early loss of milk teeth, warrant professional assessment. Consulting an experienced orthodontist will assist in determining the ideal treatment to achieve your dental needs.
At The Lakewood Dentist, our orthodontists will thoroughly assess your situation to determine whether braces are ideal. Then, they will give you personalized advice on how to proceed with the orthodontic treatment. Call us at 562-423-1441 for a consultation so we can examine you. Remember, taking proactive measures now can result in healthier teeth and enhanced confidence in the future.