Maintaining good oral hygiene is something that is taught to us at the childhood stage. Some parents have a hard time reminding their kids to brush their teeth after every meal, as they would rather spend that time playing or doing other things. But then with enough prodding, they would eventually cave in. This is important because if you did not take care of your pearly whites, you could suffer from long-term problems like tooth decay.
Cleanliness is not the only cause of concern when it comes to oral health. There could be other issues that are beyond the reach of regular brushing. For serious structural problems with your oral cavity, you may need to seek the help of an orthodontist in Oviedo or other cities.
Misaligned Jaw
How would you know if your jaw is misaligned? There could be some signs you need to look for. Try this one first. Have your head or face in the resting or neutral position. Just lay both upper and lower rows of teeth on top of each other. Now try to smile. What do you notice?
If your upper teeth line up further out of your mouth, you have an overbite. This can cause you to bite on your lower lip more often. If your lower teeth are pushed further out, you have an underbite, which can lead you to bite your tongue more than you want to. If your upper and lower teeth line up but you have a bit of space in between, you have an open bite. You may experience some challenges in pronouncing some syllables with this, particularly those that require you to push your tongue against your teeth.
A misaligned jaw, in general, can cause you pain, as it can squeeze some nerves or muscles, and this can spread further and give you headaches. This condition can also affect your breathing patterns, sleep apnea among them. Most cases, like patients with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders, would require surgery to fix.
Impacted Tooth
A tooth is like a plant seed. It starts underground, and then it will eventually reach out to the surface to blossom into the full-grown stage. With your teeth, it starts growing inside your gums. One problem that you may encounter is with your wisdom teeth or the ones that are placed all the way at the back.
A wisdom tooth grows in a weird angle, and when it hits another tooth, it can get stuck inside. This is what you call an impacted tooth. It can cause you a lot of pain and discomfort if left alone. Removing it will be a surgical procedure where the gum area needs to be sliced open so that the tooth can be removed.
Misaligned Teeth
Teeth can become crooked due to bad habits such as thumb-sucking. There are also cases where there are gaps in between the teeth. On the other hand, you can also have a row that would be packed too close to each other. These greatly affect how you look when you smile. If you are not confident about that, there are ways to rectify these conditions.
You can have an orthodontist put braces on you. These will pull your teeth together so that they are lined up as they are supposed to. There are also transparent plastic aligners that require a bit more dedication and discipline from the patient. This is something that you have to wear all day and can remove only when eating or brushing.
No amount of brushing or flossing can fix these problems. But you have orthodontists who can help you overcome these obstacles. You will be assured that once they are done with the fixing, you will feel more comfortable and confident than ever.
