Keeping your teeth in shape takes commitment. Once expended, you’d like that hard work to last a lifetime. Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever. As we get older, our teeth slowly begin to shift. What’s the best advice for how to prevent teeth shifting?
The answer will be different for every individual, and you can best determine it in close consultation with your dentist. Your teeth are under pressure daily, particularly chewing and grinding, and that force causes movement. Even if you’ve worn braces, you can expect some change in your teeth.
Knowledge is powerful in life and dental health. We can help you understand how to prevent teeth from shifting.
What Causes Your Teeth to Shift?
Given that teeth are seemingly anchored to your jaw, it may seem like they should be immovable. But there’s more than meets the eye. Your teeth are surrounded by soft tissues and attached to the jaw by a ligament. The tissues and ligament can lose resiliency over time,
Yet age is not the only factor. Furthermore, teeth can also move from:
- Teeth grinding and clenching
- Dental repair or restorations
- Tongue thrusting
- Smoking
- Nail-biting
Your teeth can also shift if, through injury or decay, you lose one. The gap gives your teeth room to move. It’s just another factor to understand in learning how to prevent teeth shifting.
How to Prevent Teeth From Shifting
What’s the best advice on how to prevent teeth shifting? It depends on the underlying reasons why you’re experiencing the movement. Our team at South High Dental can make that assessment for you and develop a plan for treatment.
For instance, over time, you might lose layers of protective enamel from your teeth, either via injury or acid erosion. That can change their shape just enough to alter the alignment of your upper and lower jaws. The mismatch of your bit can lead to teeth shifting, experts say.
Other types of gum disease can have the same effect. Keeping regular appointments with your dentist to spot these situations can help head off untimely shifting.
In the cases of a missing tooth, dentists may recommend an implant. Filling the gap will keep the surrounding teeth in place.
In severe cases, you might get to be young again. Your dentist may suggest another round of orthodontia.
The critical point is that you, along with your doctor, are best suited to determine how to prevent teeth shifting.
Why Do Teeth Move After Braces?
Parents should also understand how to prevent teeth shifting in the event their children require braces. After the hard work and expense of braces, the last thing anyone wants is for their teeth to revert to their original positions.
That’s why getting your braces off isn’t the end of your visits to the orthodontist. Patients always devote a period of their treatment to wearing retainers, which keep your teeth from shifting.
It’s so important to adhere to the advice of the doctor, or risk having the hard work of braces undone. Retainers help stabilize your newly realigned teeth.
Let Us Help
Now that you understand better how to prevent teeth shifting, it’s time to act. South High Dental employs a team of experienced dental professionals with more than 30 years of experience. Our dental professionals can determine whether you have any existing oral health problems, and give you viable solutions to fix them. Our services range from everyday general dentistry services to orthodontics for aligning your teeth and jaw to emergency dental services. You can love your smile again. Please fill out our online form or contact us at 614.363.2462 for an appointment today.
