The Benefits Braces Can Bring in Your Life

One of the first things people notice about you is your smile. Now, if you were born with naturally straight teeth, there’s a chance you love showing off your grin. However, this is not the case for many people — in fact, it’s not the case for most people.

Whether due to an overbite, snaggletooth, crooked front teeth, or otherwise, most people have some sort of smile misalignment they would like to change. The good news is that braces and other orthodontic treatments offer a variety of benefits to improve your smile as well as your life overall.

How Can Braces Improve Your Life?

Better Oral Health

When you have crooked or otherwise misaligned teeth, the spaces and overlaps that form present more areas for bacteria to live, allowing for an increased risk of plaque buildup, in addition to a number of other oral health issues.

Less Plaque Buildup

Although plaque and tartar can be removed during routine dental visits, bacteria can still take a toll on your mouth if there are overlaps or spaces between your teeth. As a result, this can put you at a higher risk of developing gum disease.

Now, if you invest in braces or another orthodontic treatment to straighten your smile, those “empty spaces” will no longer exist — leaving little-to-no room for plaque to buildup and tarnish your oral health.

Better Breath

As plaque builds up in the crevices created by crooked teeth, you may find yourself with less-than-fresh breath. While you can get rid of bacteria through brushing and flossing, braces can help resolve those spaces and overlaps so that plaque has fewer surfaces to grow and help improve your breath in the process.

Decreased Pain

Sometimes, tooth misalignment can cause you to experience jaw pain, headaches, ear pain, or TMJ. This happens because, when your teeth do not line up as they should, it can put added pressure on your joints.

As braces push and pull your teeth back into place, that pressure will be resolved and you can experience less pain as a result of misalignment.

Improved Speech

Your ability to speak consonants properly is largely affected by the positioning of your teeth. Oftentimes, misalignment can cause you to speak with a lisp or be otherwise incapable of properly forming certain consonants.

When braces place your teeth back into the proper position, you may find that your speech issues lessen or disappear entirely. For children, this helps build their confidence and ease as they expand their vocabulary in school, while adults can feel more confident speaking in the workplace or among friends.

Improved Eating

An overbite, underbite, or other misalignment may prevent you from being able to chew certain foods easily. This can particularly be a problem when your teeth don’t line up, making it difficult to break foods into digestible pieces — putting you at risk of choking or forcing you to avoid eating some foods entirely.

As braces and other orthodontic treatment help guide your teeth back into the correct alignment, you will be able to chew your food more easily, allowing for safer eating and, in some cases, a more holistic diet.

Improve Confidence

No matter what orthodontic treatment you choose — braces, Invisalign, or otherwise — a straighter smile will help you feel more confident every time you walk into a room and flash a grin. Showing off a smile of aligned teeth will put you in a better mood and make you feel more comfortable in social settings.

Orthodontic Services in Northridge

At Holistic Orthodontics, we understand that visiting the orthodontist can be a stressful time, but it is always our goal to help change our patients’ lives for the better. With over 25 years of experience and extensive education, Dr. David Berrios has successfully created beautiful smiles for countless patients and gained a thorough understanding of the field of orthodontics.