Not everyone has a perfectly straight smile. In fact, many people have overlapping teeth, twisted teeth, gaps between teeth, and crooked teeth. People with crooked teeth often feel self-confident when smiling. If you do suffer with crooked teeth, there are several unforeseen health issues that they could cause so it’s wise to consult with an orthodontist to prevent these associated health issues:
1. Chronic headaches
Crooked and misaligned teeth make your teeth have uneven wear on your jaws. Such wear may, in turn, lead to chronic headaches. If you have regular headaches and have no other problem, ask your orthodontist or dentists whether the headache may result from crooked teeth. Pain occurs in the face, neck head, and sometimes people have debilitating migraines.
2. Bad breath or halitosis
Crooked teeth make teeth overlap and have crannies and nooks. The nooks and crannies are perfect hideaway places for bacteria if you use floss or brush for cleaning teeth. Also, food particles might build up in the areas.
The bacteria remain in your mouth even after you are done with your oral care routine. After some time, the bacteria and food particles rot in the mouth leading to halitosis. Sometimes, bad breath could be signifying oral diseases or tooth decay.
3. Tooth decay and gum disease
The bacteria that remain when flossing and brushing your teeth can also lead to gum disease and tooth decay. The bacteria can be in the form of plaques or tartar and mainly build up in hard to clean areas. After building up in invisible areas, the bacteria leaves, you are at more risk of getting cavities and inflammation in the gums. With crooked teeth, the gums are not as secure around the teeth as they are supposed to be. The loosening makes it easy for bacteria to build up. Straight teeth are sometimes healthier because they are easier to clean, and you can reach out to all places. Crooked teeth are difficult to clean because they have overlapped with each other, and you might miss some areas. The crowding also makes it challenging to floss since the spaces are tight. The bacteria might be hard to clean, causing gum disease, which might progress and later on become periodontitis. Periodontitis is a teeth disease that leads to damaged bones and loss of teeth.
4. TMJ Disorder
Crooked teeth make the jaw and its hinge joints, the temporomandibular joint, have excessive wear. The jaw and joints’ wear eventually leads to TMJ disorder, which leads to pain in the shoulders, neck, face, bruxism, and locking and popping of the jaws. TMJ is very uncomfortable, and the pain extends from the area near the ear to the back or an entire side of the head. They might not be related, but the improper fitting of the upper and lower teeth and bad bites can lead to the disorder. Most headaches that occur as a result of crooked teeth are because of TMJ.
5. Damage to teeth
Crooked teeth can make some types of teeth have uneven wear. On worse occasions, it makes teeth rub up directly against each other or point in the wrong direction. The friction associated with these effects can lead to tiny fractures making the teeth more prone to damaged or broken teeth.