It is a no-brainer already that we need to fix crowded teeth. Aside from the reasons for your teeth being prone to dental decay and gums being prone to infection and diseases because of the hard-to-clean areas, the most debilitating reason of all is TMJD (Temporomandibular Joint Disorder). TMJD is inevitable if you have crowded teeth, unlike dental decay and gum diseases wherein as long as you clean them properly, you will avoid infections.
TMJD signs and symptoms include frequent headaches, neck pain, back pain, jaw numbness, joint clicking when opening and closing mouth, lockjaw, depression, etc. And yes, TMJD is inevitable when you don't fix your bite. You may not have symptoms today but eventually, your body will get tired of trying to heal your jaw constantly and may show signs and symptoms when you become weaker. It may become evident when you're suffering from colds, viral infection, stress, hormonal changes, poor diet, illnesses, giving birth, or even aging.
When treating crowded teeth, we don't extract among the 28 normal adult teeth. We will only extract if you have abnormal extra teeth (supernumerary teeth), retained baby teeth, and impacted wisdom teeth. We will rather address the cause of why there is crowding. Most of the time, there is stunted bone growth of the palate/jaw or there is excessively large tooth size. And neither of these reasons would be addressed by tooth extraction. We either expand your bone using appliances or reduce the size of your teeth to normal size.
Treating crowded teeth is, of course, very esthetic, but it goes beyond that. Braces treatment is very far from cosmetic plastic surgery because by making your teeth beautiful, we restore chewing function, breathing, and overall physical and mental health. When your teeth are not resting in the proper position, your jaw does not rest as well. This in turn makes the surrounding structures, like muscles and joints, restless and stimulates injury.
This can be similarly compared to a slightly dislocated knee. When this happens and you try to walk, it will hurt. Sometimes, if you neglect to treat it, your body will get used to it and adapt, making the pain unnoticeable. But walking not straight for a long period of time will affect the other muscles that are compensating for the injury. Like your other knee that keeps working on behalf of your injured knee, your back for having to walk in an unbalanced way, and the joint that is sandwiched in the injury. The same is true with your teeth' alignment and jaw.
Treating crowded teeth is more similar to physical therapy with an added bonus of esthetic. And it is essential.
I hope you learned from this and enjoyed this as much as I did working on the case and writing this blog. I try to make the explanation as simple as I could for the general public to appreciate and understand. If there are certain areas that still confuse you or you want a deeper understanding, you may email me at dr.rafaelle@gmail.com. If you have questions regarding your personal case, I am more than happy to give you a consultation. Just book an appointment with us via email, SMS/WhatsApp/Viber (+639778130101), or through this link: Book an Appointment.
Take care!
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