Orthodontics: Understanding What You Need

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You likely already feel familiar with the fact that if you want a straighter smile, the specialized area of dental care that you’ll need is called orthodontics. What you might not have much sense of just yet is the fact that there are two major categories if you think you require orthodontic care. These determine whether your concern affects your oral health (or not), which then affects your potential treatment needs. Let’s sort through some introductory details that will help you get a better feel for what your smile may require.

If You Have A True Malocclusion

Let’s start with those individuals who may require treatment to physically move teeth into a new alignment (or organization) so that they are flush next to one another, so that they look straight, and so that top and bottom teeth fit together beautifully for a balanced bite. These people are experiencing a malocclusion, which means your bite is not balanced. You may also hear this referred to as misalignment. This is a concern not only esthetically but also for your oral health because if top and bottom teeth are not correctly aligned, it may encourage damage, bruxism, TMJ disorder, headaches, and more. Good news: Orthodontic care in the form of braces or Invisalign will work wonders.

If It’s Primarily A Cosmetic Concern

There are also patients for whom alignment concerns are strictly to do with appearances. This means that you may deal with some amount of overlapping due to slight crowding, you may have gaps between teeth, or you may even deal with a bit of both. What your smile is not presenting, however, is a bite concern. You require orthodontic care to make your smile look better, which we can achieve with Invisalign. Or, simple cosmetic treatments may suffice!

See Us For An Orthodontic Consultation Today!

Contact us soon to set up a consultation to speak with us about aligning your smile into a beautiful, uniform feature. Call our Cleveland Family Dentistry office in Cleveland, TX, today at (281) 592-1234. We proudly serve patients and their families from Cleveland, Kingwood, New Caney, Conroe, Livingston, Huffman, and all surrounding communities.