Why the need to straighten your teeth?

More and more people are making the decision to straighten crooked or gapped teeth, not just during adolescence but also as adults. This is no doubt due to the prevalence of new, modern orthodontic treatment methods that are much less visible and often quicker.

The look of my teeth

The most obvious reason to straighten your teeth may be for aesthetic purposes. The cosmetic advantages boost self-confidence both at work and socially, making it easier to smile and laugh freely without feeling self-conscious about the appearance of your teeth. So many of our orthodontic patients speak of avoiding smiling in photos or covering their mouth with their hand when laughing, prior to treatment. Having a nice smile works wonders in social interactions.

Other consequences of crooked teeth

There are also ways in which crooked, crowded, or misaligned teeth can negatively impact on your dental health and quality of life.

• Harder To Clean – when teeth overlap each other in ways they aren’t meant to, they can be much harder to clean thoroughly than straight teeth, with food getting trapped in crevices. Straight teeth mean less places for bacteria to accumulate. If teeth aren’t getting cleaned as effectively, then they become more vulnerable to decay.
• Speech – underbites, severe overbites, and other teeth alignment issues can interfere with a person’s ability to speak clearly, sometimes causing lisps and other distortions.

What are the options?

• Invisalign
  At The Dental Spa Putney we offer the popular teeth straightening treatment Invisalign. It uses a series of clear, removable aligners to gently move your teeth into position and is hardly visible.
• Damon Fixed braces – metal or tooth coloured
  Fixed braces are a reliable and fast way of straightening teeth. We use Damon braces, which are an innovative new brace system. Instead of having brackets that tighten and adjust the braces regularly, Damon braces use a slide mechanism that attaches wires to brackets to move naturally with the teeth as they realign. This makes them more comfortable, more aesthetic and able to provide impressive results in a shorter time. You can also get them tooth-coloured, so they are much less visible.

All in all, people find that orthodontics, what ever your age, is a very worthwhile investment. If you think you could benefit from orthodontic treatment, schedule an initial consultation with our orthodontist Dr Emmett Hegarty, so that we can find out which treatment would be best to give you the smile you want.