How Do You Fix Crooked Teeth 

Having a bright, straight smile can transform your appearance and boost self-confidence. But crooked, crowded, or gapped teeth can put a damper on your smile. If you’ve been self-conscious about misaligned teeth, rest assured you have options. At Barbara Preussner D.M.D, we help patients fix crooked teeth and achieve the healthy, beautiful smiles they deserve through customized treatment plans. If you have crooked teeth, you may be wondering how to fix them and may want to learn about the various methods of straightening teeth to find the best option for you. Read on to learn everything you need to know about fixing crooked teeth.

What Causes Crooked Teeth?

A number of different factors can cause teeth to come in crooked or become misaligned over time:

1. Genetics

If one or both parents had crowded or crooked teeth, you may be predisposed as well. Crooked teeth can run in families. Certain hereditary jaw abnormalities like a narrow palate or a small lower jaw can also increase risk.

2. Lost Teeth

When you lose one or more permanent teeth, surrounding teeth can shift and tilt into the new space. This disrupts your bite alignment and causes crookedness.

3. Abnormal Tooth Size or Shape

Teeth that are significantly larger or smaller than average, or are peg-shaped, can lead to crowding and crookedness.

4. Jaw Misalignment

If your upper and lower jaws are mismatched in size or position, it puts your bite out of alignment and increases the risk of crooked teeth. Common issues include overbites, underbites and crossbites.

5. Harmful Oral Habits

Prolonged thumb sucking, tongue thrusting, mouth breathing and long-term pacifier use can all push teeth out of their normal positions over time.

6. Early Baby Tooth Loss

When children lose baby teeth too soon, the succeeding permanent teeth can erupt out of position and become crooked.

7. Cleft Lip or Palate

A cleft lip or palate affects facial bone growth, often resulting in misaligned upper teeth. Orthodontic treatment is needed.

8. Injuries or Trauma

Direct blows to the mouth and face can fracture, loosen or displace teeth, causing new crookedness. Face and jaw fractures can also misalign bites.

Potential Impacts of Crooked Teeth

Minor crookedness may not cause problems. But severely crooked teeth can lead to certain issues:

• Periodontal disease - Misaligned teeth are harder to clean and more prone to plaque buildup, tooth decay and gum disease.
• Chewing and digestion difficulties - Crooked teeth make chewing less efficient, potentially causing GI issues.
• Excessive tooth wear - Abnormal bite forces from malalignment accelerate wear and tear on teeth.
• Jaw joint dysfunction - Crooked bites often cause temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ).
• Speech impairment - Significant crookedness can affect pronunciation and clarity of speech.
• Low self-esteem - Many people feel insecure and self-conscious about seriously crooked smiles.
• Social avoidance - Some individuals limit smiling or interactions due to embarrassment about crooked teeth.

Correcting longstanding crookedness can help resolve these problems and restore proper function. And enhancing your smile’s appearance can dramatically boost self-confidence.

Ideal Age for Correcting Crooked Teeth

While crooked teeth can be straightened at any age, certain timeframes make treatment more efficient:

• Ages 5-8 for early intervention with spacers, expanders or light braces.
• Ages 8-14 for full orthodontic treatment with braces or clear aligners.
• Ages 15+ for clear aligner therapy or lingual braces.
• Ages 20+ for cosmetic options like veneers if orthodontics is not desired.

Treating children early takes advantage of emerging permanent teeth that are still amenable to guiding into proper alignment. But don’t let age deter you. Today’s innovative appliances make straightening achievable at any age.

Do Teeth Become More Crooked with Age?

Teeth are remarkably stable in adulthood but can slowly shift over decades of use. Gradual crookedness later in life occurs primarily due to:

• Abnormal wear - Uneven chewing patterns wear some teeth more than others.
• Compensatory drifts - Teeth adjacent to missing teeth tilt into the space.
• Periodontal disease - Loss of bone support allows teeth to move.
• Habitual pressing of tongue or cheeks against teeth.

While some minor movement can occur with aging, significant new crookedness arises mainly from losing teeth without replacement. Maintaining your bite with bridges, partials or implants prevents this type of crookedness.

How to Fix Crooked Teeth in Holliston MA

If you’re displeased with the esthetics or function of your smile, a wide range of options exist to straighten crooked teeth:

Traditional Metal Braces

Metal braces remain the gold standard for realigning jaws, bites and straightening severely crooked teeth. Custom-fitted brackets are bonded to each tooth and interconnected with archwires to gradually shift teeth into ideal positions.

Advantages include very predictable results and the ability to treat severe cases. Drawbacks are the metallic look and oral discomfort from brackets and wires. But modern braces are smaller, more comfortable and use colored wires/bands for a fun look.

Clear Aligner Therapy

Popular clear aligner brands like Invisalign provide an invisible, removable alternative to metal braces. A series of BPA-free custom trays are worn in sequence to incrementally move teeth. Aligners are ideal for adults and teens concerned about braces appearance.

Since aligners are removable, they don’t impact eating or oral hygiene. However, treatment takes longer and is best suited for mild-moderate crookedness. Consistent wear is essential for satisfactory results.

Lingual Braces

The lingual surface refers to the tongue-side of teeth. Lingual braces have brackets and wires bonded to those hidden surfaces, making them unnoticeable. A good option for appearance-conscious teens and adults.

Downsides include difficulty keeping them clean, speech impairment while adjusting, and higher cost. Lingual braces also aren’t typically used for complex cases.

Tooth Removal

For severe crowding, extracting one or more teeth may be necessary to free up the space needed for alignment. Removing premolars or wisdom teeth is generally sufficient. This approach should be selectively used when other options won’t sufficiently alleviate overlap.

Tooth Contouring & Reshaping

Subtly reshaping overgrown or misshapen teeth through enamel removal can help reduce areas of minor crowding. This quick, non-invasive procedure gently alters contours for improved tooth positioning. It’s only used for mild misalignment but nicely enhances other treatments.

Dental Bonding

Bonding applies tooth-colored resin material to the teeth’s surface. The putty-like composite is sculpted, hardened with light and polished to fill small gaps, alter tooth angles and correct minor crookedness. Bonding is an affordable, non-invasive way to optimally contour mild irregularities.

Porcelain Veneers

Hard, thin shells of dental porcelain are bonded over the fronts of teeth. Custom-made veneers can improve the look of mildly crooked teeth by realigning and masking imperfections. Although veneers don’t move teeth, they create the illusion of a straighter smile.

While expensive and irreversible, veneers offer quick, beautiful results. They are an option for those unwilling or unable to undergo months of braces. But orthodontics may still be needed to restore optimal function.

Jaw Surgery

For bite-related crookedness tied to skeletal jaw misalignment, orthognathic surgery can reposition the jaws into proper orientation. This is done along with orthodontic treatment and has excellent, lasting effects on tooth alignment and facial aesthetics.

Additional Ways to Enhance Your Smile

Once teeth are straightened, consider these optional treatments to further elevate your smile:

• Professional teeth whitening to brighten smile shade
• Dental bonding to hide remaining flaws
• Crowns or veneers to perfect severely flawed teeth
• Gum contouring to produce an evenly-proportioned gumline

Achieve Your Healthy, Beautiful Smile

At Barbara Preussner D.M.D, we individualize orthodontic and cosmetic treatment plans to discreetly give you the straight, lively smile you deserve. Call us to schedule an initial consultation. We accept many dental health insurance plans and have flexible payment options. We're committed to boosting your smile confidence!