Is it your mother or father's fault, or even your own? Whose to blame for crooked teeth?
Article Source: HealthSnare.com
A perfect smile is something many of us have on the wish list. Our society today can be scarily superficial. We value a pretty face as much as, if not more so, than we value intelligence or wit or a creative flair. This is why we admire Johnny Depp, we've probably dreamt about him, imagined ourselves on his arm; not that we'd ever admit it. Yet I bet the same cannot be said for Gore Verbinski; the hugely talented director of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy. It's not to say that this is necessarily a bad thing, but it does make for an appearance obsessed society and our smile is one of the first things people see; one of the few things we cannot hide when we're having an off day and therefore one of the many things we wish could be ‘perfect'.
It's a genetic thing
Crooked teeth are an extremely common problem and very few of us are born with a perfect set. Unfortunately there isn't much any of us unlucky ones can do about it. It's genetic; just like our eyes, hair and skin tone. For most of us, I imagine there's at least one thing our parents got right but as much as you might love those piercing blue eyes your daddy gave you, they probably aren't much comfort when you're feeling a little conscious about that less than perfect smile.
To say the problem is simply genetic would be slightly misleading. More often than not it is; just simply a part of your genetic make up that you can do little about. Sometimes though, it is down to other factors.
Other causes
Bad habits are a major culprit. This is most common in children; thumb sucking, teeth grinding and using a bottle or a dummy after about the age of three can cause misalignments to occur because of the fact that the teeth are still forming, and the foreign object putting pressure on them could cause them to grow out of their natural shape. Your six-year-old who refuses to give her dummy to Santa on Christmas Eve might seem annoyingly cute but what parents don't realise is the damage they are allowing their children to do to their teeth in the process.
Another cause is trauma to the teeth, again most common when it occurs at an early age. Maybe a fall causes early loss of the milk teeth. Sometimes when this happens the permanent tooth can lose its natural pattern of alignment resulting in crookedness. In severe cases an accident could cause misalignment of the jaw which would then put massive strain on the teeth when we eat or when we talk.
Sometimes it can be an inherited misalignment of the jaw that means our ‘bite' is wrong; often referred to as an over or under bite. If our bite is wrong it can lead to a whole host of problems. The unnecessary pressure on the teeth could cause further misalignments. The uneven biting pressure can lead to chewing problems or straining of the jaw muscles which again leads to further problems such as tooth or neuromuscular damage. It is a domino effect; one problem causes another and so on.
Crooked teeth can also make dental hygiene more of a problem. If the teeth are in awkward positions then it may be that brushing the teeth is not as effective in those hard to reach places. If the teeth aren't brushed properly then it is unavoidable that plaque will build up and this could lead to tooth decay or gum disease.
One of many
The causes are many; this is probably the reason that it's not such an uncommon thing. Nevertheless, it is important that these problems are dealt with so as not to cause more and more problems as our teeth age. Misalignments can cause poor nutrition; where it becomes difficult to chew certain foods, poor dental hygiene and poor communication where production of certain sounds is affected by the structure of the teeth. Such things are bound to affect our daily lives to some degree, ask anyone with a lisp how it affects them. Therefore, not only for the purpose of dental health but also for our general wellbeing it is important to correct such problems as they arise.
There are several ways of correcting misalignments these days. It's not as horrific as the scenes in movies with the hugely embarrassing head braces they're forced to wear. There are many options; from the standard metal brace and invisible braces to wireless braces and even veneers if the problem is only minor.
With crooked teeth it's probably right to say that every case is different because of the many different causes of the problem, but with the vast array of products available today to correct problems from the very minor to the most major, it's most likely that there will be a treatment for everyone - and you never know what achieving that perfect smile could do for you.
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Jackie Boy
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Date: Sun, 7 Nov 2010 Time: 5:59 PM
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