If you’re hesitant to get braces because of how they affect your appearance, you might want to consider that even celebrities wear braces to perfect their smiles! There’s nothing wrong with getting orthodontic treatment in an effort to align your teeth, straighten your smile, and dazzle those around you with the beautiful results.
Who are some of the rich and famous who have worn braces to improve the appearance and function of their teeth? Some celebrities who have worn braces over the years include Tom Cruise, Nicholas Cage, Gwen Stefani, Danny Glover, and Dakota Fanning. Note that a number of celebrities opted for adult braces, such as Tom Cruise at age 39, Eva Longoria at age 36, and Katherine Heigl at age 28. Emma Watson, Dakota Fanning, and Drew Barrymore are all examples of celebrities who wore braces during their teen years.
It may surprise you that celebrities are willing to be seen with a mouthful of braces. It stands to reason that they must believe it’s worse to smile with crooked teeth. The good news is that, whether you’re a celebrity or not, you have several less noticeable options for braces today. Lingual braces fastened to the backs of teeth, clear brackets, and Invisalign clear removable trays are all practical solutions to conceal braces while undergoing treatment.
So if you’re longing for a Hollywood smile, take a cue from celebrities and consider orthodontics to enhance your smile and improve your self esteem. If they can do it, so can you!
Problems with your bite, or the way your teeth and jaw fit together, can wreak havoc on your mouth. It can be painful, unattractive, and lead to other problems like tooth decay. A bad bite, or malocclusion, is one of the most common reasons that orthodontists fit patients with braces.
What does it mean to have a bad bite?
When your doctor says you have spacing or alignment problems, it’s likely that you have a bad bite. This includes crooked, crowded, or protruding teeth. A bad bite also includes having your upper and lower jaws meet improperly, even if your teeth look straight. Also, bite problems can be caused by teeth that are too close together or too far apart.
What causes bite problems?
The most common causes of bite problems are thumb-sucking, heredity, early tooth loss, and mouth trauma.
What are the benefits of correcting bad bites?
Braces can help with problems related to bite issues in a number of ways, including:
• Appearance – correcting a bad bite creates a more appealing smile, and therefore also improves your self-esteem.
• Tooth wear – an uneven bite can cause abnormal tooth wear, which sometimes leads to the need for crowns or veneers. Braces can correct this problem before your teeth have a chance to wear inappropriately.
• Jaw problems – a misaligned bite can lead to painful conditions like temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder.
• Teeth cleaning – it is difficult to clean crooked, crowded, protruding, and overlapping teeth. Properly aligned teeth can be more thoroughly cleaned, and therefore have less decay.
Once you’ve gotten your braces on, your orthodontist will probably give you a list of foods to avoid. Your goal while wearing braces should be to prevent damage to the brackets, bands, and wires, not to mention keeping your teeth healthy and clean during treatment. Try to stick to the following food guidelines while wearing your braces so that you reach the best results at the end of treatment.
Raw vegetables
Veggies like raw carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower are hard to bite into while wearing brackets on your teeth. Cut vegetables like these into bite-sized pieces that can be chewed easily with your back teeth. Or, cook your vegetables before eating them.
Hard fruits
The brackets on your teeth also may break by biting into hard fruits, such as apples and unripe pears. Cut hard fruits into smaller pieces to be chewed with your back teeth.
Meat
Meat causes problems for braces patients because it may be fibrous and hard to chew. Stringy meat gets stuck in your braces or between your teeth. Tough meat may loosen the bands around your molars. You can pop off a bracket by eating meat from the bone, like ribs or chicken wings. Select tender, lean cuts of meat, cut it into bite-sized pieces, and remove meat from the bone before eating it.
Hard breads
Hard crusted breads like bagels can be very hard to bite. Either break breads into small pieces or soften them by warming them before eating.
Nuts and seeds
The problem with nuts and seeds is that they can be hard and small, both problems for braces patients. You might break a band or bracket, or bend a wire that can delay your treatment.
Candy
Avoid both hard and sticky candy. Biting or chewing hard candy can break your braces, and sticky candy like gummies or caramel can get stuck in your braces or bend wires. Also, any type of candy is sugary and should be avoided because your teeth are more susceptible to decay while in braces.
