There are several ways in which crooked teeth can affect your life. From the way your smile appears to the way your bite functions, tooth misalignment can have long-lasting consequences for your oral health.  In some cases, crooked teeth might even lead to chronic discomfort by causing or exacerbating other dental health issues. For instance, crooked teeth can relate to chronic headaches when the misalignment disturbs your TMJs, or tooth sensitivity when the imbalance causes you to grind your teeth together. By correcting your crooked teeth, you can reduce your risks of such discomfort as well as improve the appearance and function of your smile.

What are TMJs?

TMJs, or temporomandibular joints, are the joints that connect your lower jaw to your skull. For your bite to work properly, your teeth must be properly aligned so that your TMJs can move smoothly together. When these joints and your jaw’s muscles are distressed, the condition is known as TMJ disorder, and the resulting discomfort can span from difficulty biting and chewing to chronic headaches and migraines, and more. Because crooked teeth throw your bite off-balance, they can increase your risks of TMJ disorder and its many different symptoms.

Straightening Teeth Can Relieve TMJ Pain

In addition to crooked teeth, TMJ disorder can be caused by a wide variety of factors that place undue pressure on your jaw and bite. Treating the condition and your chronic headache will therefore involve a customized plan to correct the underlying causes behind it. If your crooked teeth are responsible, then you may need orthodontic treatment to straighten them before finding relief from your chronic headaches.