Are you embarrassed by crooked teeth? Do you want to straighten your teeth but don’t want metal braces? Our dentist in Plano, TX, offers a wide range of treatment options for crooked teeth. Options for straightening teeth can include invisible braces or even without braces. Crooked teeth are one of the dental concerns that Dr. Graphvine treats in Plano, TX.
Patients with crooked teeth struggle to brush and floss their teeth effectively. This can lead to many oral health issues, including a tooth cavity, gum disease, and TMJ disorders, which cause headaches, teeth grinding, and facial pain.
Dr. Grapevine is an Invisalign provider for teen and adult patients who can benefit from mild to moderate orthodontic treatment. He looks beyond “crooked teeth” to evaluate the chewing system made up of your jaw joint, bite relationship, alignment of teeth, airway support, and esthetics.
Patients have unique desires, situations, and outcomes, but our office is prepared to offer solutions.
Straightening Teeth With Invisible Braces
Orthodontic treatment is the most common way to fix crooked teeth. This can be achieved either through metal braces or clear braces. Most adult patients prefer to use invisible braces to straighten their crooked teeth. Dr. Grapevine offers two types of invisible braces. We will help you decide which treatment is right for you, depending on your condition.
Invisible braces are an excellent option for patients with mild to moderate alignment problems. There are many benefits of invisible braces vs metal braces, including:
- Effective treatment for a wide variety of alignment problems, including crowding, spacing, overbite, and underbite
- Removable trays allow you to eat whatever you want
- Improved hygiene because you can brush and floss normally
- Smooth plastic instead of sharp metal means more comfortable treatment
- Convenience of visiting our Plano dentist office to monitor treatment instead of specialist
Straightening Teeth Without Braces
Many patients want to avoid wearing braces, and there may be certain conditions where treatment without braces will yield better results. Dr. Grapevine will carefully evaluate your condition to determine if you are a candidate.
Straightening teeth without braces is used when there are no health considerations that would require braces. Common treatment options for straightening teeth without braces include using porcelain veneers and dental crowns.
Porcelain veneers: This popular cosmetic dentistry treatment covers the front and sides of teeth and can be used to correct minor problems in tooth alignment. Porcelain veneers are permanent restorations made of ultra-thin porcelain designed to look and feel like natural teeth.
Dental crowns: A dental crown covers the entire tooth and is permanently bonded into place. This treatment is well-suited for teeth that may have more significant alignment issues. They are stain and decay-resistant and can last many years if properly taken care of.
Why Straighten Crooked Teeth?
Crooked teeth are a common problem for patients in our office. Usually, it’s because they’re unhappy with the aesthetics of their smile. But crooked teeth aren’t just a cosmetic issue. Multiple oral health problems can result from crooked teeth.
First, crooked teeth are harder to clean than straight teeth. They’re often overcrowded and overlap each other at odd angles. Teeth may be crowded enough that you can’t even get a piece of dental floss between some. Specialized dental tools may not work, either. Even when brushing and flossing regularly, you’re still at high risk for tooth decay and gum disease because these areas can’t be properly cleaned.
When you have crooked teeth, your bite is uneven. When the teeth come together, the pressure of your bite should be evenly distributed throughout all of them. But when teeth are crooked, some inevitably take on more pressure than others. These teeth wear down faster than the others and are more prone to cracks, breaks, and tooth decay. The enamel on these teeth is gone faster than others.
An uneven bite is one of the main causes of TMJ disorders. The jaw joint doesn’t track smoothly when the bite doesn’t come together properly. It causes the joint to break down more over time. This leads to symptoms like pain throughout the jaw and face, popping and clicking when you move your jaw, and you may have issues opening and closing your mouth. Your jaw may get stuck in certain positions. These issues get worse over time if the problem isn’t corrected.
Featured Patients: Before & After
Invisalign Patient: One of the most common alignment problems is tooth crowding. In this case, tooth crowding has led to crooked teeth. Her teeth also showed signs of wear, and there was concern that gum disease would develop without treatment. Invisalign treatment lasted approximately nine months.
