A healthy and confident smile is a powerful asset, especially given the increasing emphasis on having a perfect set of teeth. Teeth that are beautifully straight can help you get on in life, both professionally and socially. However, there are millions of adults who do not have teeth they feel proud of and who may never have had the chance to wear braces as a child. Then there are those people who have seen their teeth shift with age, perhaps because of failing to wear their retainers after completing orthodontic treatment. Adult orthodontics is one possible solution, but it requires careful consideration.

Why Straighten up?
For most people, the answer to this question is easy, as you probably want to improve the appearance of your teeth. Orthodontics is a highly effective way to create a more cosmetically perfect smile but it’s worth just looking at the other potential benefits and reasons for considering braces as it is possible that treatment may improve your dental health. When your teeth are crooked and overlapping or when you have gaps in between them, this can create dental problems.

Teeth that are tightly packed in are often difficult to clean and nearly impossible to floss thoroughly. When you have gaps in between teeth, food can become impacted in these spaces which increases your risk of tooth decay and gum disease. Additionally, having a severely misaligned bite and where your teeth do not meet together correctly can cause other unpleasant symptoms.

When your teeth don’t bite together properly, a problem called malocclusion, it can place additional stresses on your teeth, leading to abnormal wear and tear patterns as some teeth begin to wear down more quickly than others. This can lead to problems with chewing properly and an abnormal bite can also cause teeth grinding and clenching, a problem called bruxism. When you bite together incorrectly, it may place stress on your jaw joints or temporomandibular joints, potentially causing facial pain that can extend to your temples, causing chronic headaches and which may even cause an earache. Correcting all these problems will help give you a more beautiful smile, as well as one that is potentially a lot healthier, protecting your natural teeth so they last longer.

Not All Braces Are Noticeable
One common concern is the visibility of teeth braces. Many people, particularly those with busy careers where they must frequently interact with colleagues or clients, will not relish the thought of having to explain why they are wearing quite visible braces and having to answer awkward or embarrassing questions.

The good news is that there are loads of different options that can be used to straighten teeth and many of the more advanced technologies use virtually invisible braces that are extremely discreet. Possible options include clear, removable aligners such as Invisalign, as well as lingual braces. These are braces that fit inside your teeth surfaces, so they are still fixed braces but the brackets cannot be seen. Another possible solution is to use fixed braces that have clear ceramic brackets, and which are attached to thin wires that are often tooth colored. If you are worried that you will need to have highly visible braces then you can rest assured that there will be a treatment option for you and which can nearly invisibly straighten your smile.

Making Only Minor Corrections to the Position of Teeth
Yet another option is to have cosmetic braces, and these can be a very popular solution, especially for adults. These braces aren’t designed to correct major problems with the way your teeth are aligned or positioned. Instead, they concentrate on only removing the teeth that are visible when you smile and which are called the social six or social eight. This type of treatment can be a great alternative to perhaps using another method to straighten your teeth such as porcelain veneers or crowns and which would require major modifications to the overall shape of your teeth. With a cosmetic brace, teeth that are generally nicely shaped but only slightly out of place can soon be moved into the correct alignment. Often this type of treatment is surprisingly quick yet very effective and can be a healthy way to straighten your smile.

How to Decide Which Treatment Is Best for You
The best way to decide is to book an appointment with your orthodontist because they will need to assess the way your teeth bite together and they will also look at your jaw joints, considering all the potential problems that could require correction. Your orthodontist will talk to you about your aims and desires for this treatment and what you’d like to achieve. Armed with all this information, your orthodontist can then provide you with a customized treatment plan showing all possible options to help you straighten up your smile. Each option will be carefully explained, including potential advantages and disadvantages. The idea is to provide you with all the information you need so that you can be in control of your dental health.

Once you have decided on your treatment then the next stage is to get started. At this point your orthodontist will plan your treatment, deciding precisely how each tooth will move to create your new and healthy smile. With some options, your orthodontist will digitally create your treatment plan, using virtual models of your teeth to precisely plan each tooth movement. Where this is the case, you will get the chance to preview your new smile by looking at these virtual images.

Once you begin treatment then you will need to see your orthodontist at regular intervals, even if you choose to have removable aligners such as Invisalign. These regular checks are essential to make sure your treatment is progressing exactly as planned and to make any necessary adjustments. At the completion of treatment, be prepared to wear retainers to ensure your teeth remain in their correct positions. Modern retainers are extremely discreet and can be fixed onto the insides of your teeth a bit like a lingual brace, or alternatively, you may choose to have a removable appliance that perhaps only needs to be worn overnight.

There are lots of different choices for straightening up your teeth and who knows, within just a short few months you may have a beautifully straight smile.

Author's Bio: 

I am Amelia Grant, journalist, and blogger. I think that information is a great force that is able to change people’s lives for the better. That is why I feel a strong intention to share useful and important things about health self-care, wellness and other advice that may be helpful for people. Being an enthusiast of a healthy lifestyle that keeps improving my life, I wish the same for everyone.

Our attention to ourselves, to our daily routine and habits, is very important. Things that may seem insignificant, are pieces of a big puzzle called life. I want to encourage people to be more attentive to their well-being, improve every little item of it and become healthier, happier, stronger. All of us deserve that. And I really hope that my work helps to make the world better.