Important Reasons To Get Braces

Do you have crooked teeth or does one of your children have crooked teeth? Are you trying to decide whether you want to go to the bother and expense of having an orthodontist put in braces? At first glance, braces may seem to be overly expensive and time consuming for relatively little gain.

However, here are some reasons why you should consider having your teeth straightened:

Prevent tooth decay

If your teeth are very close to each other, it can be impossible to completely brush or floss. Bits of food that get left behind can eventually promote tooth decay. Tooth decay can result in fillings or extractions and may finally result in a premature need for dentures. Having your orthodontist straighten your teeth will enable you to practice good dental hygiene, saving you from future pain.

Speech improvement

Crooked teeth can cause a variety of speech impediments. These impediments can be relatively minor, like whistling occasionally when speaking. Or they can be more severe, such as giving you a severe lisp when you speak. Straightening your teeth will allow you to work on correcting these issues. You may even find speaking to be much easier, now that you're no longer struggling to compensate for formerly crooked teeth.

Improved self-esteem and confidence

Are you shy when it comes to meeting new people? Do you have a hard time standing up for yourself or speaking your mind? If your teeth have been crooked for decades, you may no longer realize that they could be the cause of some of these issues. You may make excuses to yourself that you're just naturally shy or that what you think isn't really that important anyway.

But after the orthodontist works on straightening your smile, you may find that some of these issues disappear almost overnight. Your new smile may provide you with the sort of confidence that you never felt before, allowing you to seek out a better job or to push for the promotion that you've been wanting.

There are many reasons to get braces or other teeth straightening appliances, beyond simply conforming to other peoples' ideals. Straighter teeth may also help to promote better digestion and better health in general. But if you're still undecided, you should speak to your general dentist or to your orthodontist about what other types of benefits you might expect to get. They'll be able to explain the whole process, including what methods will work best for straightening your teeth.