Options for Straightening Your Teeth

Having straight white teeth is a great way to transform your looks and to give yourself that Hollywood type smile that will make you look friendly, confident and approachable to others. If your teeth are grim and grey then of course this is a serious problem, but the good news is that this is relatively easy to change and there are various processes that can give you much whiter looking teeth.

The more difficult thing then is to change your teeth if they are very crooked. In this case though there are still ways you can change your smile - it just might require a little more invasive work and commitment. Here we will look at the options.

Braces: Of course we are all familiar with the idea of braces, and chances are that the idea will have haunted you somewhat when you were a school kid (no child wants to go to school with metal tracks in their mouth). However as far investments go, this is a very wise investment as it can help you to realign your teeth with no need for surgery and will last permanently. Suffer 6 to 18 months of grey teeth and you can go the rest of your life with perfectly straight ones. The choice is yours.

Invisalign: Still not quite sold on the idea of braces? Well then something along the lines of Invisalign may be more up your street. Here you basically get a plastic casing that goes around your teeth and looks a lot more like a gum shield only transparent. This is much harder to see and it can be taken out at will meaning you can look normal on special occasions and still eat your favorite food. At the same time there are some practical benefits too as you are able to 'upgrade' your Invisalign over time as your teeth move to ensure you are always getting the most benefit. The downside of course is that there is a temptation to remove the shields too often, and a very good chance of losing them. This is really a question of how dedicated you think you are.

Surgery: There are various surgical options available which might just mean moving your jaw, or may also involve inserting implants to replace your teeth with straighter ones or fill gaps. Any form of surgery of course is invasive however and can be painful, so if there are easier options available these are normally advisable unless you are suffering other health problems due to your teeth.

Veneers/Crowns: Veneers or crowns will attach to your teeth to hide them by sticking to the front or encasing the whole tooth respectively. This then means that the tooth can be changed slightly in terms of how it looks which can create the illusion of straighter teeth. At the same time these can also help to protect your teeth from decay and make them look whiter - but bear in mind that your teeth aren't being changed in any real way, so this can only do so much for your smile.

Ron Lobo is a dentist Austin who gives tips on how to take care of your teeth to keep your beautiful smile protected as well as provides beneficial options for straightening your teeth on his website.