Many people need orthodontics at some stage in their lives. Although orthodontics is often associated with the teenage years, not everyone was lucky enough to have treatment at that point and many decide to explore the possibilities later. There are also certain orthodontic problems that develop or become more obvious in adulthood.
While many adults come to orthodontics to achieve the straight, natural smile they have always wanted, there are often important dental health reasons too. Proper alignment reduces wear on the teeth and also makes it easier to keep teeth and gums clean. This gives you the best opportunity to have healthy natural teeth now and into your later years.
You are never too old to have orthodontic treatment but it may take a little longer to achieve results as you get older.
Orthodontics can be used to treat general problems such as grinding or clenching teeth, jaws that shift or make odd sounds and difficulty with chewing.
These are some of the specific conditions of the teeth or bite that can be improved by orthodontic treatment:
- Crowding – When too many teeth come through without enough space on your jaw, some teeth are pushed backwards, forwards or to the side. Apart from looking bad, crowded teeth can be difficult to clean and are more likely to decay or be damaged.
- Protruded teeth – This happens when the top front teeth grow forwards as well as down. The protruding teeth are more likely to get damaged and the lower front teeth also have the opportunity to grow too far up, causing damage to the palate behind the top teeth.
- Under bite – This is when the lower front teeth stick out beyond the top teeth. It causes uneven wear of the front teeth.
- Deep bite –When your top front teeth cover the lower teeth, it can cause too much wear on the front teeth and can damage your gums.
- Open bite – This happens when some teeth don’t meet when you close your jaws. That can make eating rather difficult and causes too much wear on the teeth that do meet.
- Cross bite – The top teeth should fit just outside the lower teeth, like the lid on a box. If the upper jaw is too narrow, the lower jaw may swing to one side and cause a range of problems.
- Missing teeth – Where teeth are missing, orthodontic treatment can move the remaining teeth into the correct position.
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