Orthodontics has recently gained popularity as a branch of dentistry. Although it seems like a modern treatment method, it has been used since ancient times by the Egyptians, the Ancient Romans, and the Greeks to fix unaligned teeth with braces.
Mal-positioned teeth and jaws and misaligned bite patterns are prevalent. Around 50% of the world’s population has dealt with the mouth’s positioning. However, only 40% of them require severe orthodontic treatment.
As more and more teens have started becoming self-conscious about their looks and appearance, orthodontics for teens has been helping them fix the positioning and alignment of their jaws and teeth.
A perfectly aligned mouth and a beautiful smile significantly impact one’s personality and self-esteem. Teens with bright smiles generally establish themselves as bold and confident individuals in society.
Table of Contents
What Is Orthodontics?
Orthodontics is a sub-branch of dentistry that treats misaligned teeth and jaws or malocclusions. It originates from the Greek words – ‘orthos’ means straight, and ‘dontics’ means teeth. Hence, it is a practice to fix the teeth straight or correctly.
Orthodontic specialists treat such malocclusions at an affordable price and without any complications. They usually provide treatment when the chewing mechanism has been significantly affected, making the patient’s life miserable. Or when the patient’s morale has been down due to the misaligned structure of the mouth.
Benefits Of Orthodontics for Teenagers
Rectifying gapped, crooked, or protruding teeth, overbites, underbites, and misaligned teeth and jaws during adolescence will help your teen boost morale and avoid lifelong oral problems. The benefits of Orthodontics for teens are not just limited to aestheticism or appearance. Other advantages include the following:
● Improves self-esteem
Having crooked teeth may cause insecurities within your teens regarding their appearance. They might start struggling with self-esteem and lose their morale. They may end up hating their smiles and eventually stop smiling to avoid attention and weird looks from the observers. Attaching braces is a great way to treat such malocclusions. It improves their confidence, knowing they will soon have a perfectly aligned mouth.
● Improves chewing mechanism
Misaligned jaws cause a lot of problems while chewing food. The food particles are not broken down well and cause indigestion and other digestive issues in teens—orthodontics treatment can fix this problem and help your teen eat well and whole-heartedly.
● Improves pronunciation and speech
Speech problems like mispronunciation and stuttering can be caused due to misalignment structure of the mouth. Some teens face problems pronouncing the letters’ S’ or ‘T.’ If not solved early, they will face these problems even in adulthood. It can affect their confidence to a great extent when they enter the corporate world and look for a job. Treating them with orthodontics helps improve speech-related problems painlessly and cost-effectively.
● Reduces teeth grinding
Teeth grinding may cause frequent headaches and neck pains that most people are unaware of. Grinding of teeth probably happens due to an unaligned jaw. Adding braces and elastics helps to fix the jaw at its correct position and provide relief from disturbing symptoms.
● Reduces risk of tooth decay
With properly aligned teeth, one can easily brush their teeth, reaching the areas that are harder to reach with crooked teeth. If not appropriately brushed, it may cause tooth decay because of poor oral hygiene. Fixing this problem will allow your teen to brush carefully and maintain good oral hygiene.
Conclusion
Orthodontics is an excellent treatment you can give your teen today to help them grow into confident and decisive adults tomorrow. You must ensure that your teen gets the best of everything and ensure they love themselves and feel confident about their appearance.
