Can Cosmetic Dentistry Repair Crooked Teeth?

Are people born with a consummate smile?

When you see celebrity on TV, or in magazines you may wonder how many of these celebrities have picture “consummate smile”. Are they born that way; pearly white teeth, evenly sized, positioned just perfectly with no abnormalities?

Chances are, they had some type of cosmetic procedure done to literally recreative their smile to a custom-designed alignment and colour that is photogenic and pristine. The fact is being born with a perfectly straight, pearly white and perfectly shaped set of teeth with no anomalies is extremely rare. We are no statisticians (and let is face it 600% off statistics are made up on the spot), but we are willing to bet that the percentage of people worldwide, born with a consummate smile is less than 1%. That is just based on our extensive experience with dental studies and dental anthropology.

Reality bites, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing

The reality is that crooked teeth, misaligned bites such as overbites, underbites, and crossbites are actually quite common. In fact, many famous people throughout history have had crooked teeth or misaligned bites, some like Gwen Stefani, famous singer, even used to their advantage, so there is nothing you should feel ashamed of.

You might be surprised to know that “smile shame” is a very real emotional struggle for many people who suffer from bites that range from slightly misaligned to severe misalignments that actually cause pain and abnormal chewing and swallowing. Crooked teeth as well can cause a stigma within a person and prevent them from smiling. Aside from superficial problems, crooked teeth and misaligned bites in some cases can cause very serious physical problems such as:

Impeding proper chewing which affects digestion,
Difficulty cleaning teeth which can lead to tooth decay, gingivitis, and chronic halitosis.
Putting an excess strain on the teeth, muscle, and jawbone which can lead to a broken or chipped tooth.

What couses crooked teeth or misaligned bites and can I prevent it?

There is no one dominant reason that people develop crooked crowded, misaligned or twisted teeth. At Miami Smile Dental, we have treated many cases like these with great success, and we can confidently break the causes down into four main root problems.

Genetics

This is by far the most common cause of misaligned bites and crooked teeth. It is something we have no control over much like the way we don’t choose our hair or eye color. Your dental tendecies and teeth characteristics are inherited from your parents, and their parents and so on.

One of the most frequent dental traits inherited by patients we see that causes crooked teeth is mouth size. If you are born with a mouth that is too small to house all your teeth, then it causes all of the teeth to shift out of position which can have a domino – like effect on the teeth, with some shifting behind each other.

When it comes to misaligned bites issue is actually a misaligned jawbone which can cause over and underbites and other unnatural alignments that can cause problems.

Bad habits

Sometimes crooked teeth or misaligned bites can develope due to bad habits we engage in, often without even realizing it. There are also other unconscious things we do that can cause misalignment to the jaw and teeth. Things like mouth breathing, reverse swallowing and thrusting the tongue habitually, can cause a host of dental issues.

Dental trauma

Dental trauma, such as a broken jaw or teeth knocked out, can move your teeth out of place. In fact, one of the best causes of severely crooked teeth is dental trauma. When you lose your teeth or your jaw shift over time to compensate for the lost space in an attempt to fill the gap. Unfortunetely, this also means that they usually don’t compensate properly and get out of alignment. It is very important to seek ortodontic treatment for dental traumas as soon as possible because the harm can be done much more quickly than from natural genetics.

Losing baby teeth prematurely

Pemanent teeth actually sit just under your baby teeth as they development. Baby teeth protect the development of permanent teeth and also teach you how to chew and use your teeth before the permanent teeth come in. Your permanent teeth are also directly dependent on the health of baby teeth. If you lose those baby teeth prematurely due to trauma, genetics, decay or other issues, your permanent teeth will shift when they come trought the gum causing a bite issue or crooked teeth. Since baby teeth are like the guides that make sure your permanent teeth come in properly, healthy babe teeth are an absolute must. If you don’t maintain your child’s baby teeth, oral bacteria can build up and penetrate the permanent teeth before they even get chance to erupt from the gum surface, so the tooth will erupt already decaying.

What treatments are used to fix crooked teeth?

If your teeth are just slightly crooked or your bite is just slightly misaligned and not severely deformed. Most problems can be corrected with basic dental aligners, such as invisalign or traditional braces if it is a little more pronounced. Another great option for teeth that are only little bit crooked, is porcelain veeners.

Finally, to answer the question: ” Can cosmetic dentistry repair crooked teeth?”
Answer is: “Yes, of course it can. At Miami Smile Dental, our expert staff will help you get a beautiful and perfect smile. All you need to do is contact us via the contact form and schedule your appointment.