When you stop to think about it, we call on our mouths to do quite a lot. We use the mouth for all sorts of things like talking, chewing, whistling, kissing—even opening a condiment package. The mouth, like the teeth, is largely taken for granted. However, when people that have sustained trauma to the face and have their jaws wired shut during healing, they soon become aware of how many uses are lost when the mouth is not functioning. While a wired jaw is an extreme example, a poorly functioning or nonfunctional mouth can have dozens of expected and unexpected consequences. As we will learn, properly aligned teeth and jaws are critical for the proper function of the mouth.
Teeth impact the sound of the voice
Human speech is formed by air forced through the structures of the throat and mouth. Humans can make guttural screams or the most beautiful arias depending on the orientation of these anatomical structures. The larynx (voice box; vocal cords), tongue, lips, nasal cavity, sinuses, and even the teeth play a part in determining the sound that is uttered. Speaking is an enormously important function of the mouth.
Poor teeth lead to unintended sounds
Exhaled air passes over the teeth as it exits the mouth. Few vibrations are caused by this movement normally and thus, few sounds. When teeth are unevenly spaced, air that is exhaled moves between the teeth in these spaces. This air, forced through a narrow space, can lead to eddies and turbulence. In other words, gaps between the teeth can cause a person to whistle when they speak. In contrast to whistling while you work, whistling while you speak is not a good thing.
Poor teeth lead to difficult speech
In order to participate in the full extent of modern human language, the mouth must be able to form many different configurations. When the teeth and jaws are improperly aligned, it is very difficult to make these facial shapes to produce speech. If the teeth do not close completely (called open bite) then it is difficult to make a “cee” sound in English, for instance. The degree of the speech impediment depends on the severity of the orthodontic problem. On the other hand, orthodontic treatment can correct these jaw problems and speech anomalies.
Teeth are for eating, first and foremost
While it may be impossible to consider functioning in polite society without the gift of speech, you can certainly live without speaking. You cannot live without eating. Crooked teeth make chewing a challenge. When there is a malocclusion and the jaws do not close in the right orientation, chewing is very difficult. To adapt to the situation, a person with a malocclusion will always chew in the area of the mouth that the teeth best come together. In order to position the food in this place in the mouth, the jaw will often need to be contorted in uncomfortable ways. Over years of eating three meals a day in this way, the teeth wear unevenly and the jaws develop serious problems. Straight teeth are important for the act of chewing food just as chewing food is important for maintaining life and health.
Orthodontics for a healthy jaw
Did you know that an orthodontist can help you avoid arthritis? Consider the example in which the jaw is held awkwardly to compensate for misaligned teeth. Over time, the jaw joint (the temporomandibular joint or TMJ, to be precise) will deteriorate. If the temporomandibular joints (one on each side of the jaw) are constantly held and moved in a strange position with chewing, the joints will become inflamed. The natural cushion in the joint will break down and bone will rub against bone. This is essentially what happens in arthritis. An orthodontist can straighten teeth and bring jaws back into alignment. Thus through orthodontic treatment, an orthodontist can help a person avoid or correct arthritis.
Straight teeth, facial pain, and headache
A misaligned jaw is not just a problem for chewing and inflammation. It can be painful! Disorders of the TMJ cause chronic pain in the face and headaches. In fact, one of the proposed mechanisms for a certain type of migraine headache is irritation of the jaw joint and the facial nerve that runs very near the TMJ. People with crooked teeth, malocclusion, and temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD) experience increased rates of pain in the face and headache. On the other hand, patients that have had their dental problems corrected through orthodontic treatment have less facial pain, headaches and fewer symptoms of TMD.