The Crooked Path to Wellbeing: The Psychological and Physical Benefits of Teeth Straightening
You knew you were doing your smile a favour entering a teeth-straightening journey
But, as it turns out, you’ve also made a promise to an improved quality of life for your future self. Yes, please!
What prompted you to get your teeth straightened?
Fed up of camouflaging your smile with a (ahem) casually placed hand?
Sick of laughing with your mouth closed while others threw their heads back with unbounded joy?
Tired of being tongue-tied and talking without moving your lips? Hard work, wasn’t it?
No-one should have to try to talk as though they have a ventriloquist’s dummy on their knee. Slappy can just slap off! We get it. We’ve been there, we’ve got the t-shirts, too.
But, maybe, now you’re on your straightening journey, you can ...
Breathe a sigh of relief*
Once your teeth are on their way to getting in line, there’s a point you start to relax. Old concerns and appearance-checking habits begin to disappear. In fact, last week, you recall Adam said something hilarious, and you guffawed without a second thought. That was new! And, very welcome.
Along with the laughter came feelings of hope. Hope for diving headlong into even more positive interactions. Interactions where you finally bin that niggling feeling you're not allowed to join in.
But, now, you’re looking forward to getting gung-ho about laughing. Giggling, chortling, the whole nine yards of the belly laugh. Yes, please! More of this!
Yup, it definitely seems ...
There’s something about teeth-straightening that’s good for you!
Research into both the benefits of teeth straightening for teens and studies on the benefits of adult teeth-straightening treatment suggests the process doesn’t just improve oral health. You’re also benefitting mental and physical health. Marvellous!
Orthodontic treatment can also improve:
- Self-esteem Makes sense, right? You’re worth it.
- Self-confidence Guess who’s back?
- Psychological wellbeing Don’t mind if I do!
- Physical health Wait! What?
- Bodily satisfaction No! Surely, not ... they’re my teeth! How?
- Quality of life Did I sign up for a life upgrade? Quite possibly!
Better oral health with straighter teeth
Let’s Take a Bigger Bite
Of course, straighter teeth spell better oral health. Once the roller coaster of braces or aligners is done, you've fewer complex nooks and crannies to cater for with those faithful interdental brushes.
You’ll have to keep using them going forward, though, it’s just that the gaps will be much easier to clean. But when it comes to small, hidden teeth surfaces, ortho appliances or no ortho appliances, no one gets off scot-free! Sorry, not sorry ... although some do cheat on the interdentals and use floss instead!
Better self-esteem and self-confidence add up to psychological wellbeing
Stands to reason we get more positive feelings about ourselves after all that tooth masking we used to do (and wasn’t that exhausting!), right? Our self-esteem's higher because we see our teeth look better. Even during treatment, we see teeth moving to where they should be. It’s exciting! Our optimism bubbles. It’s a good feeling.
We deserve this break our braces or aligners are delivering. We’re full of potential! We want to connect. Can we have a moment for their hard work and ours?
For some of us, it’s the first time we’ve ever felt this deep, Hey, I’m ok-ness. At Healthy Smile Pharmacy, we’re here for exactly that.
Better physical health and better bodily satisfaction?
Let’s probe (yes, we went there) a bit further:
It seems that it’s true: love spreads! Here’s one possibility: if we perceive we’re worth it in a few areas of our health – and committing to orthodontics is a big commitment to ourselves - we feel more confident we can look after our health further.Eating better, building strength, running ... heck, white water rafting ... the world of opportunity that physical health affords is suddenly at your feet. It seems teeth can be the gateway to a generally more tip top you!
Better quality of life?
In the case of adult teeth straightening, one study concluded that ‘Dental appearance has a psychosocial impact on private and job-related interactions, which can increase the motivation of those affected to seek treatment’. After teeth straightening, the study group reported increases in quality of life and reported the teeth and mouth having a strong role in this. Another study concluded that wellbeing could be positively affected as motivation improved with teeth straightening.
Job-related interactions and motivation relate to career wellbeing. Career wellbeing’s the number one indicator of overall wellbeing. The more we do a job we love, the better our health. Straightening your teeth might help you in a million positive interactions in the workplace. It may help you perceive you deserve that promotion, and it might persuade your boss you do, too!
*A little corner of the mouth, reassuring aside from us:
Don’t get us wrong, at Healthy Smile Pharmacy, we don’t think teeth that don’t ‘conform’ to a perceived default setting are ‘bad’ teeth. Here we’re acknowledging that modern society places increasing pressures on more people to have teeth that are in the ‘Hollywood smile’ style rather than natural human variety style. Plenty of us soak up these pressures and start to feel bad about something that nature handed us. This affects the way we think about ourselves. Also, many people have to wear braces to clinically correct a bite that could be causing other problems. Life’s hard – let's be gentle on ourselves about our teeth!
