6 Surprising Health Benefits of Orthodontic Treatment

When you think about orthodontic treatment, you probably picture teenagers in braces. While many get orthodontic treatments between the ages of 8-16, 1 in 4 orthodontic patients are adults!

Adults choose orthodontic treatments for a variety of reasons. While straight teeth is the aim for many, there are actually a lot of other health benefits of orthodontic work. Read on to learn what they are and how orthodontia may be able to help you!

Neck and Shoulder Pain Relief

If you have misaligned teeth, you may experience jaw strain. Discomfort in the jaw can radiate to the neck and shoulders, causing the entire region pain. Orthodontic treatments can fix misaligned teeth and relieve jaw strain.

Reduce Risk of Disease

There is a direct link between your dental health and certain other diseases. Researchers have linked poor dental health to problems during pregnancy, heart disease, and diabetes. It is possible for harmful bacteria in the mouth to enter the bloodstream, leading to a host of other problems.

By treating crooked teeth with orthodontia, you can help prevent gum disease and other factors that lead to poor oral health. So talk to your orthodontist today!

Don’t have one? May we recommend this orthodontist for those in the Austin, TX area!

Fewer Headaches

Crooked teeth can cause teeth grinding. They can also result in a misaligned bite. Both of these issues can cause strain in the jaw and the muscles and tendons around it.

All this tension in the face muscles can cause headaches. An orthodontist can correct these issues with aligners or braces, or in some cases surgery.

Improved Sleep

Jaw misalignment can aggravate sleep apnea. With sleep apnea, the quality of your sleep suffers greatly. You end up sleeping less deeply and waking multiple times a night.

You can sleep for a full eight hours and wake up in the morning still feeling tired because of poor sleep quality. Orthodontists are able to address the issue of your jaw alignment and help you sleep more soundly at night.

Prevention of TMJ Syndrome

Temporomandibular joint syndrome (TMJ) is a condition in which the sufferer experiences pain in the joint connecting their jawbone to their skull. The pain can be severe, causing the person to have lockjaw or be unable to chew food. This condition is easily treated by an orthodontist.

The orthodontist can work to relax the muscles and tendons around the joint and bring things back to the proper position to relieve the pain.

Orthodontic Treatment Treats More than Your Teeth

So as you can see, there is much more to orthodontic treatment than just straightening teeth. You can fix your smile but you can also fix many other health issues, so make an appointment for an orthodontic consultation today!

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