Everyone deserves a beautiful smile. Unfortunately, this becomes challenging when you have overcrowded teeth, crooked teeth, and abnormal gaps between your teeth. Braces are an orthodontic treatment used to improve your smile and oral health by addressing these issues.

Many people associate braces with teenagers. However, adults can correct the alignment and spacing of their teeth using braces. If you need braces, your dentist can recommend you to an orthodontist for further assessment to determine your eligibility. Determining whether you need braces is critical to ensuring you receive the proper treatment for your conditions before they cause additional oral health complications.

The outcome of dental procedures like braces can have a significant impact on your smile and overall oral health. Therefore, you must consult a reliable dentist to assess whether you need braces and perform the procedure. Some of the signs that indicate that you need braces include:

You have an Overbite

An overbite is a vertical tooth misalignment that occurs when the teeth of your upper jaw overlap those of your lower jaw. Although a small overbite is necessary for proper tooth function, if your teeth overlap by two to four centimeters, the problem will need to be addressed.

Overbite may be caused by different factors, which include:

  • Genetics
  • Excessive tooth grinding
  • Excessive nail biting
  • Thumb sucking
  • Tongue thrusting

In addition to distorting your smile, an overbite can cause a wide range of oral health complications, including:

  • Tooth erosion, which comes from the friction between poorly aligned teeth
  • Pain when chewing your food
  • Temporomandibular joint disorder
  • Jaw pain
  • Gum disease
  • Neck pain

Your dentist will detect an overbite during an oral examination or further procedures like an X-ray. Children and adults with an overbite can have it treated through various orthodontic procedures, including fitting with braces.

In this case, the braces will pull your teeth in the desired direction. Whether or not braces are a good choice for your overbite will be determined by your age and the severity of the overbite.

Too Much Space Between Your Teeth

Another common indication that you may need braces is having a diastema. A diastema is a gap or space between your teeth. Although excessive tooth spacing can occur at different locations in the mouth, it is familiar with the front teeth. The gaps between your teeth may be caused by a variety of reasons, which include:

  • Genetics. You cannot escape genetics, a significant contributing factor in developing diastema. For some people, the diastema only persists in childhood and is corrected when adult teeth develop.
  • Gum disease. Periodontitis, or gum disease, can occur due to untreated tooth decay or poor oral health. This condition can result in gum recession and the teeth shifting further away from each other.
  • Problem with tooth development. Some childhood habits and dental issues can cause poor tooth development, resulting in excessive gaps between teeth.

Excessive gaps between your teeth can cause different complications, including:

  • Food impaction. Abnormal gaps between teeth can trap food in different mouth parts, making cleaning difficult.
  • When teeth are difficult to clean, plaque and bacteria can develop, resulting in tooth decay and gum disease.
  • Temporomandibular joint disorders. Gaps between your teeth can cause misalignment of the teeth. This could result in excessive wear of the tooth enamel and joint pain.

You may need braces to fix the issue if you have gapped teeth. Although braces are popular, your orthodontist must evaluate you to ensure they are the right option.

You Have Crooked Teeth

Crooked or misaligned teeth are a common oral health issue affecting children, teenagers, and adults. Teeth are not always perfectly aligned, and slightly crooked teeth may add personality to your smile. However, your smile and overall oral health could be impacted when the condition is severe. The following factors could result in crooked teeth:

  • Early loss of your deciduous teeth. When one or more baby teeth fall out before age six, the tooth that grows in the space left by the baby tooth may fail to align with the other permanent teeth.
  • Smaller jaw. If you have a smaller jaw, your teeth may fail to fit correctly in the mouth, causing them to be crooked.
  • Your lower and upper teeth are expected to fit correctly when you bite. When there is no alignment, malocclusion occurs. This results in an underbite and an overbite and causes your teeth to be crooked.
  • If one or both of your parents have crooked teeth, there is a high likelihood that you will develop the condition.
  • Poor dental care. Failure to make regular dental visits could cause you to have undetected conditions like gum disease. Severe gum disease causes the shifting of your teeth, which causes them to be crooked.
  • Facial injuries. Trauma to your face can knock out teeth from their place, resulting in one or multiple crooked teeth.

Crooked teeth can affect the quality of your life by distorting your smile and making it difficult for you to chew your food. This can impact your nutrition and overall oral health. Additionally, crooked teeth are hard to clean, and this can increase your risk of developing periodontal gum disease.

If you have crooked teeth, your dentist can recommend that you have them aligned to avoid additional dental complications. Braces are a great treatment option for people with crooked teeth. This orthodontic procedure may be helpful, especially for children whose teeth are still developing.

Depending on the severity of your condition and your age, braces could correct crooked teeth within two to three years.

You Have Crowded Teeth

Crowded teeth are a common dental condition with insufficient space on the law to fit normally. This can result in teeth twisting and overlapping. Teeth overcrowding is apparent when permanent teeth develop and may be a result of the following factors:

  • Lack of proportion between the size of your teeth and your jaw size
  • Oversized or undersized jaws
  • Having extra teeth
  • Early loss of baby teeth

Crowded teeth present more problems than poor aesthetics. When left untreated, crowded teeth could result in the following complications:

  • Increased risk of tooth decay. Crowded teeth are challenging to clean, which increases your risk of developing tooth decay.
  • When your teeth overlap and twist, bacteria may accumulate in the gums and cause gingivitis, which progresses to gum disease when left untreated.
  • Bite problems. You may experience malocclusion or bite problems when your teeth do not fit in the mouth correctly.
  • Low self-esteem. Having crowded teeth can distort your smile, which can lower your self-esteem.

Having crowded teeth is another indication that you need braces. Braces could be made of metal or ceramic. Metal braces are the most preferred type of braces for correcting tooth crowding. Their strong material effectively pushes and pulls the teeth in the desired direction.

If you do not desire the metal look, the dentist can recommend ceramic braces. These less visible braces are a good choice for teenagers whose physical appearance is critical. If your teeth are severely overcrowded and there is no room for them to be in the correct order, your dentist can recommend the removal of one or more teeth to create space.

You have an Underbite

An underbite is a dental condition in which the teeth of the lower jaw extend beyond those of the upper jaw. According to the American Dental Association, 5–10% of Americans have this condition. Jaw injuries, prolonged childhood behaviors, and genetics cause it. A mild underbite may not need treatment. However, when the condition is severe, it can result in other dental complications.

  • An underbite is often characterized by:
  • Trouble opening and closing your mouth
  • Difficulty breathing
  • Jaw pain
  • Discomfort when chewing

When left untreated, a severe underbite can cause issues ranging from temporomandibular joint disorders to sleep apnea and gum disease. Although underbite is better when treated in childhood, braces and other treatments could help solve the problem for individuals who do not have it addressed on time. In this case, the braces use pressure to move teeth into the proper positions.

You have an Openbite

This is a type of malocclusion where the upper and lower teeth do not meet. This occurs when the front, lower, and upper jaw teeth slant outward. You may suffer an open bite due to:

  • Thumb sucking. Thumb or pacifier sucking can stain tooth alignment, causing an open bite.
  • Tongue thrusting. When you push your teeth with your tongue, they can slant forward and cause an open bite.
  • Skeletal problems. This could occur when the jaws grow apart from each other and are influenced by your genetics.
  • Tempomadifibular joint disorders cause severe jaw pain. Some people use their tongue to push the teeth forward and reposition the jaw. This can cause shifting of the teeth and an open bite.

An open bite is treatable with the intervention of a skilled orthodontist. After assessing the root cause of your open bite, your orthodontist can recommend braces. However, the effectiveness of braces may depend on the severity of the conditions and your age. To address the issue, braces will be combined with recommended behavior changes for individuals with fully grown adult teeth.

The benefits of braces for your open bite will include:

  • Having an open bite can distort your smile, affecting your self-esteem. Braces will push your teeth back to the correct position and restore your smile.
  • You may experience difficulty speaking or chewing your food with an open bite. After a treatment with braces, you may notice an improvement.
  • Reduce tooth wear. An open bite can cause friction between your teeth, which results in damage to tooth enamel. When the alignment of your teeth is corrected with braces, you can protect them from further damage.

You have a Crossbite

A crossbite is a condition where one or more teeth from the lower jaw extend beyond the upper jaw. Crossbites can be anterior or posterior, depending on the location of the misaligned teeth. With an anterior crossbite, the front teeth of your lower jaw go beyond the upper jaw; in a posterior crossbite, the back teeth from the lower jaw are extended.

Crossbite could be caused by a variety of factors, including:

  • Genetics
  • Thumb sucking
  • Loss of your baby teeth too soon
  • Prolonged use of a pacifier or bottle
  • Breathing through the mouth
  • Pushing the tongue against the teeth

When left untreated, a crossbite can cause issues like trouble closing your mouth, temporomandibular joint disorders, lip slurs, lisps, and tooth loss. A proper bite is necessary for a beautiful smile and overall oral health. A crossbite can impact your appearance and self-esteem.

Having a crossbite is an indication that you may need braces. Braces help correct the alignment of your teeth and improve your smile. Sometimes, your dentist can recommend supplementing braces with elastics to pull your teeth to another desired position. If you have a single tooth behind the rest, your dentist can use braces and a bite pad to push it back to the right position.

A bite pad is a small mold of composite that props the bite opening, allowing the tooth to move forward. It is placed simultaneously with the braces and removed when the bite is corrected.

Temporomandibular Joint Disorders

The TMJ is a complex joint that is connected to different facial muscles and nerves. The joint connects the skull to the jawbone. When this area is strained, you can experience pain and discomfort, which radiate through your mouth and can cause headaches. Temporomandibular joint disorders could be caused by a variety of conditions, which include:

  • misalignment of the upper and lower teeth
  • Excessive tooth grinding
  • Teeth overcrowding

The diagnosis of TMD requires a comprehensive examination and understanding of the structures of your teeth and jawbone. This could include a physical examination and an X-ray or CT scan. Jaw pain is a common result of temporomandibular joint disorders. Other symptoms that may be associated with the condition include:

  • Severe headache
  • Shoulder and neck pain
  • Teeth pain and sensitivity
  • Difficulty chewing and speaking
  • Jaw and muscle stiffness

Since tooth alignment issues are a common cause of jaw pain and other symptoms of TMD, you may need braces to correct the condition. Although braces do not directly impact the jaw, correcting the underlying tooth conditions can help improve the symptoms.

Braces may be an ideal choice if, after assessing your teeth, the dentist determines that malocclusion is the root cause of your TMD. It is important that you consult with a competent dentist to determine if you are a good candidate for braces. This is because unnecessary orthodontic procedures can worsen the symptoms of temporomandibular joint disorders.

Early Loss of Baby Teeth

When the milk teeth fall out early, the likelihood of malformation of the permanent set is higher. For this reason, individuals whose milk teeth fall out earlier may need braces when the permanent teeth begin to develop.

Milt teeth play a crucial role in securing the place of permanent teeth in the mouth and allowing the child to chew their food correctly. These temporary teeth often begin to fall out when the child is six years old. However, the child can lose their teeth earlier, which is not always ideal.

The following are some of the reasons why milk teeth could fall earlier than expected:

  • When a child falls or suffers a blow to the jaw, they can lose their teeth before the appropriate time.
  • Cavities on molars. Poor oral hygiene habits and other factors can cause a child to develop cavities on their molars before age six. In this case, the child may need to have the teeth extracted.
  • Although the condition is rare, a malfunction of alkaline phosphate can cause an early loss of milk teeth.

The time between losing the deciduous teeth and the eruption of the permanent set was critical. If the baby tooth falls out earlier than expected, the gap left behind may be unable to maintain space for the permanent teeth, resulting in tooth misalignment and other dental complications.

A dentist can recommend braces for a child who loses deciduous teeth earlier. The braces will be fitted once the permanent set of teeth develops. This helps the teeth align properly and avoid potential issues.

Find Expert Dental Services Near Me

Braces are orthodontic devices used to correct various dental issues, such as overcrowded teeth, gaps between teeth, crooked teeth, and overbite. However, you can explore other treatment options to deal with these issues. If you have these issues, you may wonder whether you need braces.

You must undergo a dental checkup involving a visual assessment and procedures like X-rays to determine whether you need braces. This helps ensure that braces are the right treatment for your dental issues and that the desired results will be achieved. The process of fitting braces takes a few hours. However, they may require readjustment and proper care within the duration they remain on your teeth.

Your experience with braces and treatment outcome may largely depend on your dentist's expertise. At Beach Dental Care Anaheim, we are dedicated to transforming your smile through different dental procedures for our clients in Anaheim, CA. Contact us at 714-995-4000 to book an appointment.