Undergoing orthodontic treatment is about more than just straightening the teeth for vanity reasons. Crooked and overcrowded teeth can negatively affect a child’s oral health, and misalignment issues can make it difficult for a child to maintain an effective hygiene routine.
Learn how helping your child achieve proper tooth alignment will improve more than just the look of their teeth and the impact braces can have on their oral health.
Overall Health Benefits of Straight Teeth
A child suffering from crooked teeth can face many other problems with their dental health over the years, including weakened tooth enamel, low self-esteem, and poor dental checkups.
Straightening your child’s teeth is accompanied by many other life-long benefits.
Teeth Are Easier To Clean
Crowded teeth that overlap or have general alignment issues are much more difficult to properly clean because simple oral hygiene care like brushing and flossing can be hard to do. Kids and teens already struggle with taking great care of their teeth and being unable to reach all the surfaces of their teeth successfully leads to plaque buildup and tooth decay.
Gum Disease Prevention
Straightening your teen’s smile not only helps their teeth, but it improves their gum health too. By allowing the gum tissue to fit more securely around each tooth, orthodontics can help prevent gum inflammation and periodontal disease.
Self-Esteem Is Improved
A child being able to feel confident in their smile is directly linked to their ever-changing self-esteem and how they view themself. When you’re confident in yourself, that confidence trickles down to others around you and can truly change a person’s life, making a smile your child is proud to show off a valuable tool in life.
Frequent Headaches and Neck Pain Disappear
Everything in the mouth is connected, and when teeth are improperly aligned, this places excessive stress on the gums and the bone that supports the structure of the teeth. Misaligned teeth also cause jaw pain which leads to chronic headaches and neck pain in some.
Abnormal Tooth Wear is Avoided
When teeth are not correctly aligned, it can cause them to rub against each other when biting down or chewing. Over time, this leads to abnormal wearing of the surfaces of the teeth and can result in chips, cracks, or fractures.
Tooth Decay Is Less Likely
Tooth decay and gum disease associated with crooked teeth can lead to mouth sores, bleeding gums, and possible tooth loss if the decay is unable to be effectively treated or not caught in time by a dentist.
Digestive Health Is Enhanced
Having general misalignment has a severe effect on how well someone can eat and digest their food. Difficulty eating is understandable, as having an overbite, underbite, or crossbite affects how well a person can bite and chew. A common problem among children who suffer from alignment issues is not chewing their food correctly. This is because entire mouth sections, such as the front, cannot break down food.
The result is large chunks of food making their way to the stomach where they cannot be digested correctly. This often results in intestinal distress, irritable bowels, and difficulty feeling sated after eating.
Could Your Child Benefit From Orthodontic Treatment?
Only you and an experienced orthodontist can determine if straightening your child’s smile is something you should pursue.
In addition to the benefits outlined, a child can also benefit from orthodontic treatment if:
- They are self-conscious about their crooked teeth.
- They have a misaligned bite that causes difficulty in chewing or biting together.
- They suffer from jaw pain or dysfunction and frequent headaches.
- They are frequently biting their tongue, cheeks, or lips.
- Their dentist frequently diagnoses them with cavities during routine exams because they cannot clean their teeth thoroughly.
The Best Time To Start Orthodontic Treatment Is Now
Helping your child achieve a straight and healthy smile throughout orthodontic treatment is an incredible gift that will continue to benefit them throughout their entire life. If you’re ready to learn more about how braces could benefit the overall health of your child’s teeth, or if they have yet to be seen by an orthodontist for an evaluation, contact Thomas Orthodontics today.
