An irregular, broken, or protruding tooth can be problematic for individuals who love maintaining a brighter smile. Such a structure in your mouth is a snaggle tooth that is a trendy fashion statement for the Japanese.
Interestingly, every 9 in 10 individuals have misalignment issues in their smile and are looking for ways to get a perfectly straight smile. So, if you are struggling with oral care tips and seeking expert advice, follow our blog. Here, we share advanced remedies to treat dental issues at home without splurging.
Now, let’s discover more about what a snaggle tooth looks like, how to fix a snaggle tooth without braces, and tips to avoid problems caused by such a tooth.
What is a Snaggle Tooth?
A single misaligned tooth, twisted, crooked, or projecting, stands out from all the other teeth in your mouth. It is one of the reasons that you have misaligned teeth and find it problematic to keep up with the oral regime.
Misaligned teeth are difficult to keep clean as they require special techniques and deep cleaning or scaling every six months. Moreover, the misaligned teeth are always differently placed and look out of shape. It can be seen in front or from the back of other teeth.
A snaggletooth can be of different shapes, from a pointed appearance to being broken. Its distinct structure makes brushing and flossing more difficult, leading to oral health issues such as gum diseases, cavities, and mouth infections.
What are the Potential Causes of a Snaggle Tooth?
There are some reasons why you have crooked teeth or snaggletooth. Mostly, it occurs when you don’t have enough space in your mouth for your teeth to align correctly. Additionally, overcrowding of teeth causes a snaggle tooth.
However, more other reasons that cause such issues, so let’s have a look at them:
1: Thumb sucking
Thumb sucking is a common issue in kids which leads to many complications later in life. Additionally, using a pacifier in the teeth-growing stages also causes alignment issues. Studies reveal thumb sucking is a potential cause of misaligned and crooked teeth.
2: Teeth crowding
Teeth misalignment is caused by teeth overcrowding, which results in a lack of space for new teeth to grow. Insufficient teeth eruption results in crooked or broken teeth that appear on the front or the back side of the teeth.
Moreover, overcrowding also results in extra growth of teeth on the sides of the jaws that not only affects the alignment but also interrupts the teeth cleaning and destroys an aligned smile.
3: Baby teeth lost early
Early tooth loss in kids is common due to several factors, such as trauma or accidents. Frequent baby tooth loss disturbs alignment as adjacent teeth move out of it, leaving empty spaces or misaligned teeth.
4: Genetics
Another major cause of having a snaggle tooth is genetics. Individuals who receive genes of an impaired smile from their parents are at high risk of getting the snaggletooth. Moreover, they are prone to develop other dental issues and gum diseases.
5: Jaw development
Kids’ jaws are also under development during the early teeth growth phases. If there is an issue with jaw development, it causes problems with teeth alignment and gums.
6: Pushing tongue against teeth
Kids have this common and unintentional habit of pushing their tongue against the teeth, distorting their alignment, especially during teeth growing stages. This issue is common in pediatric cases as they are totally unaware of this habit and its side effects.
However, if new parents discover such a habit in their kids, they must contact a pediatric dentist and get professional help to control this issue.
5 Problems Caused by Snaggle Tooth
A snaggle tooth is also commonly known as a single misalignment problem, as it is a single tooth that tries to fit imperfectly. However, even a single crooked tooth can cause dental health problems, which we will discuss here.
Proper cleaning is a struggle with misaligned teeth and causes many other complications, such as tooth decay and gum cavities.
Although a snaggletooth picture shows that this is harmless, its impact can be more severe than you think. Apart from the misaligned teeth and an imperfect smile, it leads to problems such as:
1: Bad odor
Bad breath can be problematic when walking, eating, or talking to someone. You might not know, but snaggletooth is a huge cause of bad breath. It results from excessive accumulation of oral bacteria, which are difficult to eliminate without strong dental treatment.
2: Dental hygiene issues
Due to inaccessibility, misaligned teeth are hard to clean and accuse major dents in the oral regime. You struggle with daily cleaning, brushing, and flossing your teeth. No proper flossing and brushing causes dental cavities, gum diseases, and bad breath.
So, fix the alignment first and perform some home remedies to remove plaque buildup.
3: Bite issues
Snaggle teeth cause pressure on jaws and bite-size issues as well. It can cause a crossbite in which the jaw shifts to one side and tears apart the outer protective layer, “enamel,” from teeth.
Furthermore, underbite, overbite, and deep bites also occur due to excessive crooked teeth and teeth spacing issues, requiring complete dental treatment.
How Can You Fix a Snaggletooth?
Do you know that most people’s teeth move throughout their life? This occurs due to several factors, such as genetics, oral health issues, gaining wisdom teeth, and others. Snaggletooth is also one of the reasons for this movement and misalignment, which requires proper treatment.
So, here we share the best treatment options that you can count on to treat your oral issues, particularly with a snaggle tooth. Let’s have an example:
1: Traditional braces
Traditional braces are one of the best long-term treatments for snaggletooth and misaligned teeth. While choosing this option, you can wear different types of braces according to your style and personality.
The braces made with ceramics and metal are evergreen, which now can be customized with different colored bracelets, springs and wires. By applying enough pressure for a specific time frame on your teeth, dentists improve their alignment by gradually moving them to the right places.
2: Retainers
If you don’t want a perfect and brighter smile, other options are available, such as retainers and palate expanders. Most retainers wear post-traditional braces to avoid teeth returning to their original positions.
In the case of a single crooked tooth, you can also get a fixed retainer rather than full braces, which will save you from unnecessary trauma. However, fixed retainers promise long-term results in preventing the teeth from moving to their old positions.
3: Palatal expander
A palatal expander is a common tool in dentistry to widen the arch of teeth in the upper jaws. The expander is attached to the upper molars and tightened with a key to apply pressure on the jaws.
An advantage of using the palatal expander is that it is barely visible and comes with less discomfort than all other traditional treatments.
4: Clear aligners
Clear braces, or transparent aligners, are a common treatment option for teeth straightening. Depending on your teeth situation, they come with a series of removable aligners that require changing every few weeks.
5: Porcelain veneers for snaggle tooth
With the recent dentistry and cosmetic industry advancements, here is another fix. The veneers made up of porcelain are thin shells that are applied on the front side of teeth. It gives an illusion of straightening teeth and works in 50% of cases.
Final Thoughts
To sum up, a snaggle tooth can destroy your straight smile quickly and lead to some oral complications that go unnoticed. A snaggletooth person must look for the above treatment options to get a perfect smile.
Choose any option, from clear aligners to retainers, depending on your case. Moreover, look for home remedies and holistic tips to keep your oral health in check. Find more tips and oral directions to a brighter smile at our blog.
FAQs
What are snaggle teeth?
Snaggle teeth are those that are either twisted or projected. Moreover, broken and irregular teeth that ruin your smile also fall under this category. They cause severe dental issues such as spacing, overbite, deep bite, etc.
What is snaggle tooth slang?
This term is a slag for the irregular, broken, and protruding teeth that misalign your jaws and complicate your smile. Such a tooth causes complications in overall oral health.
How do I fix my snaggle tooth?
To fix such a tooth, look for retainers, palatal expanders, or traditional braces. You can choose any option that fits your requirements and smile goals.
What does a snaggletooth look like?
It looks like a broken, protruding tooth that stands out from all other teeth. Moreover, it ruins your smile and causes complications with the misalignment of teeth.