Why Straight Teeth Are Not Just A Cosmetic Thing

To see a smile means to see nearly everything else. It’s not because you’re shallow; it’s because a smile tells us a lot about you. It says you’re welcoming, relaxed, confident, anxious, warm, preoccupied, or guarded. Therefore, it seems logical for people to focus on getting straight teeth, both for aesthetic reasons, and functional ones.

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There’s more to the equation than just aesthetics. When your teeth fit together correctly, they do a number of things beyond making you look great in photos. In addition to providing an even chewing surface and protecting your teeth from excessive wear (which could potentially occur when your upper and lower teeth don’t come together smoothly), properly fitting teeth will allow you to eat cleanly, brush and floss easily, and speak clearly. Furthermore, having a proper functioning bite can cause you to feel differently in your face, yes, but it can also provide a foundation upon which the normal day-to-day activities of eating and speaking are performed, albeit silently most of the time.

Bite Affects Much Beyond Just Smiling

The two arches of your teeth are meant to function as a single unit. If the upper and lower arches meet properly, then pressure is distributed relatively equally throughout each arch. However, if the arches do not meet appropriately, particular teeth will bear a disproportionate amount of weight compared to other teeth. These issues can manifest as jaw fatigue, sensitive teeth, headaches, or feelings that your bite is always settling incompletely. At times, the symptoms may be slight and therefore go unnoticed. You may unknowingly chew on one side of your mouth. Or, you may intentionally choose to avoid specific food items since they require an odd motion to bite down on. Similarly, you may unconsciously grind your teeth at night as your jaws attempt to establish a comfortable resting position.

Having straight teeth is not equivalent to having perfectly aligned teeth. Alignment plays a critical role in ensuring optimal performance of your bite. While the primary concern regarding your bite relates to aesthetics (your Smile), it relates to functionality as well. Ideally, your mouth should perform all tasks associated with mastication without undue stress.

Easier Cleaning Ensues With Properly Aligned Teeth

Crowded or overlapping teeth can create small crevices within your oral cavity that can be challenging to access with either a toothbrush or dental floss. Regardless of how diligently you clean, these small areas are capable of harboring plaque buildup. Prolonged exposure to plaque creates an increased risk of developing stains on your teeth, gum inflammation/irritation, cavities, and bad breath. This is where the aesthetic and health-related aspects of having straight teeth intersect. Your overall dental health will likely be healthier when you have a straighter smile. Typically, the oral cavity should look cleaner and healthier than before. As an individual, this can contribute to a more positive perception of your overall health. When healthy, your gums are likely to be less sore; as well, your ability to breathe regularly may be more consistent. Straight teeth make cleaning your mouth easier. Because there’s no longer a need to fight with sharp angles or edges to get into all areas of your mouth for cleaning, practicing better oral hygiene becomes much simpler.

Self-Confidence Isn’t A Frivolous Concern

Although it is simple to overlook how you feel about your appearance as mere “cosmetic,” how you perceive your smile can impact how you interact with others on an ongoing basis. You may hesitate to take pictures. You may cover your mouth when you laugh. You may feel uncomfortable smiling during meetings, dates, school events, interviews, or casual social interactions. Such hesitation can develop into additional non-verbal communication cues.

Minor Problems Can Develop Into Greater Ones

Teeth are constantly changing in your mouth. For example, when you get older or if you have lost or gained a significant amount of weight, your teeth will shift from one place to another. There are several things that cause this shifting, which include chewing or grinding excessively over time, losing the soft tissues (gums) around them, a missing tooth next to the one being shifted, or the constant pressure on them from long-term sucking with an object like a pacifier or thumb. A mild alignment problem may be stable for years before it starts to show up more clearly.

Therefore, it is helpful to identify problems as early as possible. You don’t have to freak out over every tiny overlap between your teeth. However, if you notice irregularities in how your teeth fit together, discomfort while chewing or closing your mouth (bite issues), overcrowding, difficulties cleaning your teeth, etc., then it would be wise to schedule an orthodontic appointment. During this visit, an evaluation can be made to determine whether there exists any evidence suggesting that there is bite dysfunction requiring correction.

A Better-Aligned Bite Can Help Maintain Tooth Integrity In The Long Term.

As previously mentioned, when your upper and lower arches meet, some areas of your mouth may endure greater forces than others. Over time, this can lead to chipping of edges, recession of gums around individual teeth, tooth sensitivity, or general weakening of enamel. Often, the effects of a poor occlusion do not arise immediately. As such, the negative aspects of an improperly aligned closing can be insidious in their development. This is why most people do not realize the detrimental effects until serious and irreversible damage has been done.

When you achieve better closure on your teeth, you will likely experience less uneven force applied to your teeth. It may also provide for longer-lasting restorative dentistry (fillings or crowns) in areas where your teeth were previously misaligned. A better close of the teeth may also make maintaining those restoratives easier, as the tooth adjacent to the restorative area now functions in harmony with the restorative(s).

Not all people need corrective treatment. Some people have naturally asymmetrically shaped teeth with very few issues associated; other people appear to have fairly straight-looking teeth but still suffer from bite problems. The issue is ultimately aesthetic vs. functional.

Functionality And Appearance Tend To Be Intertwined

While aligning your teeth primarily involves aesthetics (how your smile looks), several beneficial outcomes arise from the functional perspective as well. Cleanliness becomes easier. Chewing becomes simpler. Stress associated with biting/chewing decreases. Awareness of changes occurring in your mouth increases. 

Don’t think that being perfectly aligned or aesthetic is normally achievable. When we strive for perfection, it usually distracts us from what’s really important. Your healthy smile should be aesthetically pleasing as well as comfortable to wear and support your day-to-day life. If you have ever wondered if straightening your teeth may be something you would like to explore, then the answer will be somewhere other than in the mirror. The answers involve: how you eat, clean, speak, or smile with confidence. Beauty such as this is certainly worthwhile.