We all want to have a bright, healthy smile, right?
It’s the unspoken sign of health, happiness and friendship across the planet. Whether our motive is for the visual impact of a beautiful smile (guys, read handsome) or the logistic fact that crooked teeth are tougher to keep clean, having straight teeth is a universal desire.
But as the years pass, many of us find that our teeth are moving and NOT in the direction of that ideal, straight teeth smile.
Let’s take a look at some common reasons why teeth become crooked and more importantly what we can do to stop causing them to misalign. All this will head us ultimately toward how to fix crooked teeth without braces.
What causes teeth to move?
If we think about how braces, the universal ‘solution’ to straighten teeth, do their job, understanding what causes teeth to move becomes really clear. Teeth shift by gentle, persistent pressure. If the pressure is too strong or fast, then the tooth can become loose or get knocked out (think hockey for a painful visual).
It’s the gentle, slow, constant pressure that causes teeth to shift their position.
So how do we cause our teeth to shift?
We have identified two common culprits that cause teeth to shift over time. But before we detail them, we have to address what isn’t the cause of crooked teeth…
Contrary to popular culture, it’s not wisdom teeth.
Research shows that allowing your wisdom teeth to come into the mouth rather than having them removed does NOT cause other teeth to become crowded. We recently wrote two articles on this often misunderstood subject of wisdom teeth. One article details the common problem with having wisdom teeth removed and the other details the 5 main myths our culture believes around wisdom teeth.
So what does cause my teeth to shift?
To answer this question, we simply have to look at how we put gentle, regular pressure on our teeth.
It’s helpful to grasp that when teeth go crooked, it’s due to them crowding one another on the inside of the dental arch. Sure, there are examples of teeth being crooked outwardly in the mouth (most common with children and excessive thumb sucking). But most issues with crooked teeth are from the teeth crowding and overlapping inwardly, toward the tongue.
There are two main ways we cause crooked teeth.
1. Sleeping on your belly (i.e. face)
Sleeping on your face is a very real way to cause teeth to become crooked. Dr Hal Huggins shared this fact with us prior to his death in 2014. If you look at the structure of the human skull, the teeth do stick out a bit. So, sleeping on the face puts this gentle, consistent pressure on the teeth which can cause them to shift.
This risk is made even worse if you habitually put your arm or something firm under your head while sleeping. When you combine the gentle pressure with the fact that we are unconscious while asleep, sleeping on the face is an excellent ‘one, two punch’ to cause crooked teeth.
Simple fix…
When you go to bed, have the intent to sleep on your back and/or side. If you find yourself in the night on your belly, notice how your face and jaw are distorted as you pick your head out of your drool puddle and shift position.
With regular intent to shift this habit, you can easily stop sleeping on your belly and stop causing this common cause of crooked teeth.
2. Leaning your face on your hand during the day
Quick body check… At this moment reading this article, are you sitting up straight or do you have your head resting on your hand/fist while leaning in toward your computer? Did you catch yourself resting your head in your hand?
With more and more of us spending our time in an office at a desk/computer, it’s no surprise that posture at work can be a culprit. Sitting at a desk can provoke poor sitting posture which results in a forward slump. When we get tired enough holding our heads up to the constant onslaught of gravity, we prop up our heads on our hand/fist.
Leaning on the hand/fist, we again have this perfect environment of gentle, persistent pressure on the lower face slowly pushing the teeth inward.
How much of your day do you spend in a forward dominated position?
What’s the fix?
If you spend plenty of time with forward focused attention on a computer or at a desk, try the following actions to help balance alignment. When you find yourself slumping forward, rather than just ‘sitting up straight’ like we were told as kids, notice the way your lower back and pelvis is oriented. I guarantee it’s rolled under you like you were sitting on your tail.
We want to realign our posture so our tail (if we had one) is behind us, rather than under us while we sit. This way, we have the proper base under us to better support the upper body in maintaining upright alignment.
Otherwise, if we just ‘sit up straight’, we’ll most likely find our heads resting back on our hand soon enough.
Here’s a helpful TedX video titled “Find your Primal Posture and Sit Without Back Pain” that will walk you through this process to realign your sitting posture to avoid the forward slump and resulting lean on the face that causes our teeth to misalign.
Having our lower body properly aligned will allow the upper body to naturally stack in a healthy way on top of a well positioned low body. Since becoming aware of the importance of low body posture for upper back/neck health, I have noticed that not only do I not lean on my face nearly as much, but I have more energy and greater mental clarity.
What to do if your neck gets fatigued
But my neck gets so tired. I know. It’s part of the reality of our forward oriented modern lifestyle.
This is really, really common. In fact, if you look around you, seeing people with a forward tilt to their body with the head jutting forward is super common. The bottom line is we lack muscular strength in our upper back and neck. Taken to the extreme, this results in the old people who literally can’t look at the beauty of the stars at night because they have lost their range of motion (and muscle tone) to extend their necks to look straight up.
So, go outside tonight and take a few minutes to look up at the stars by extending your neck. The added benefit is this action activates the area of the neck where our thyroid rests. And we could all use to take better care of our thyroid.
Here’s a video that will show you a simple exercise to regain range of motion and muscle tone to help maintain upright posture and remove neck pain.
If you are tech oriented and like coaching and feedback tools, here’s a simple device that will let you know when you are habituating the forward bend posture. Personally, neck pain is enough of a notification for me, but perhaps some of you would like a helpful tool like this.
But what can we do if our teeth are already crooked?
In an upcoming article, we will share techniques and strategies that will offer you solutions how to naturally straighten your teeth without braces. However, until we publish this other article, let’s take positive actions today and stop causing our teeth to become crooked.
Get off your face, whether it’s while sleeping or while sitting.
And please share this with your kids and grandkids. It’s a very real way for them to avoid the need for braces.
Helpful, Related Resources:
The Common, Unknown Risk of Having Wisdom Teeth Removed [article]
Uncovering the 5 Myths Around Wisdom Teeth Removal [article]
How to Straighten Teeth Without Braces [article]
Would you make your own braces if you knew how? [article]
How to Treat Your Own Neck Pain
Find Your Primal Posture and Sit Without Back Pain
Lumo Lift [app based postural tool]
I am also looking forward to learning how to straighten crooked teeth.
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Aloha Alma,
Thank you for stopping by to share your positive feedback.
I’ve added you to our email list. Thanks for wanting to hear from us. 🙂
We look forward to hearing how you benefit from our information and insights.
Aloha!
Thank you for this. I sleep on my belly because strangely, I can fall asleep despite having restless legs. I cannot fall asleep on other positions.
how can I know when the next and new artical gets published
Thank you for the information. It makes sense. I have just recently realised my bottom teeth on the right have started to move inward. I do definitely sleep on my face a lot and grind my teeth other times. I look forward to the article about straightening them.
im 26 and my teeth’s are moving onwards and I am really worried, I think its my tongue that slowly pushes them out
I am looking forward to the article about how to straighten your teeth
Thank you sandra
An interesting hypothesis but crooked teeth not likely caused by sleeping on your stomach or leaning on your hand. Although, if young infants are left sleeping in one position they can cause cranial distortions which can result in dental malocclusion later. Crowding teeth is related to trans-generational nutritional insults leading to a traumatic birthing process. This has resulted in malocclusion in the first generation, scoliosis in the second generation and difficulties in giving birth in the 3rd generation. This traumatic birthing process along w/ not breastfeeding for a minimum of 18 months results in restricted upper and lower arch development as well as poor tongue posture. As a consequence when the teeth begin to erupt there is insufficient space for the teeth to come in straight. Also the tongue is squeezed between the teeth instead of pushing up on the palate and ultimately moving backwards in the throat creating sleep disordered breathing. By placing braces to straighten teeth is only a band aid as the teeth can be forced into what appears to be straight but in a very stressed condition resulting in relapse as soon as the patient stops wearing the retainer. This is why you see so many adults going thru w/ braces again only to end up w/ them shifting again. The proper way to address this is to properly develop the arches , provide myofunctional therapy and initiate healthy nutrition at an early age. If not addressed at an early age its not too late as we can now stimulate arch development w/ appliances that stimulate stem cells in the periodontal ligaments and cranial sutures as well initiate myofunctional therapy to teach proper tongue and lip posture. Just a brief explanation. Hope this shines some light.
Thanks for a wonderful article what you post.I see too many little kids with ugly teeth even with their baby teeth. I would say there is a bigger problem and it’s nutrition. Gradually it’s increase.we are the major cause for the problem of teeth crowding. so follow the basic roles and make small changes in life to get rid of such conditions.
I had no idea that leaning your face on your hand throughout the day can cause your teeth to go crooked! What’s funny, is you begin that section asking if I was leaning on my hand or fist while reading the article, and I definitely was, and I know that this is something that I do regularly as I am sitting in class or looking through my phone. That being said, you talk about how leaning on your hand or fist adds pressure on the lower face, which pushes the teeth inward. Personally, I have had braces, and over the years, I have been to surprised to see some of my teeth shift and become crooked again. I could bet that because I lean on my hand so much during the day, this could definitely be one of the reasons why. Thank you for the interesting suggestions and insight; I will definitely be more conscious about this habit and try to be better about not doing it.
Aloha Lauren!
Thanks for stopping by to add your thoughts and appreciation to our dialogue here. We’re glad the article got you thinking! 🙂
yes, we are the major cause for the problem of teeth crowding. so follow the above steps and make small changes in life to get rid of such conditions
im glad to view the unknown fact behind the cause of teeth crowding
When will the next installment be coming about how to straighten crooked teeth? Very interested.
Just as soon as it’s done. 🙂 Thanks for reminding us to keep that project moving forward!
This makes sense for grown up kids and adults who’s teeth get crooked a bit with these habits, but I see too many little kids with ugly teeth even with their baby teeth. I would say there is a bigger problem and it’s nutrition. My daughter was born with soft palate cleft. All of kids like her are destined to have crowded teeth. I did not know that I was so deficient in some nutrients to cause it. Thanks to Weston A. Price who opened my eyes. She was about 6 months when I learned how a lack of nutritionally dense food effects dental health and causes cleft as well. I got myself on Fermented cod liver oil and high vitamin butter including all nutritionally dense foods like raw dairy and liver + more. I breast fed her for 22 months. Her 1st foods were avocado and butter then egg yoke and, of course, cod liver oil and high vitamin butter. Her baby teeth were growing pretty crowded and she started teething late at about 12 month. Her first teeth (4 top and 4 bottom) look very uneven. I gave her cell salts since she was 1 y.o. for about 2 years. She had dental check up every year from cleft team and they always would say she most likely will need braces. We had last check up this winter (she was almost 3.5 y.o.) and her dentist was surprised. She may have slightly crooked teeth or they may straighten out on their own since her palate is wide now. I heard about those cases and was so hopeful that nutritional food will work for my child too. It works if you start it yearly enough.
I hope my info will help some parent who is in the same situation and WHO WANT TO KNOW WHAT THEY CAN DO. I feel so bad for those kids. Unfortunately most parents don’t want to hear me because they feel responsible now instead of “Bad genes cause it and I can’t do anything, so, I won’t worry”.
I will look forward for the next article since I might need to know that info in case my child will end up with slight crookedness.
Thanks.
Right on the mark! We completely agree with you that from a development level, nutritional deficiencies play a MAJOR role in complete development of the dental arch or not.
Good on you for creating your own dental miracle in your home! I love these stories when they stump the ‘experts’! There is so much we can do to better support the genetic potential of our children. Obviously, the earlier we get started the more potential we have to reclaim lost ‘genetic momentum’.
Thank you for stopping by to share your story with us!
The reason teeth become crowded is due to habitual mouth breathing , leading to poor tongue position . Your airway effects your sleep patterns that lead to grinding and protrusion of your lower jaw creating stress to TMJ and neck.
If you are sleeping on your face it is bacause your body has adapted to optimise your airway. A home sleep study will rule out sleep apnoea.
Keep Smiling
It’s good for you!
Aloha Dr Cowhig!
Thank you for stopping by to share your experienced perspective! We just interviewed another dentist friend of ours on this very subject! So fascinating the connection between sleep apnea, bruxism and teeth shifting.
Thank you for your blessing! Clearly, we’re in this together to keep smiling! It’s good for us AND good for others. Total win/win! 🙂
I also have crowded teeth. I have all my wisdom teeth at age 64, and was always told that’s why my teeth are crowded, so this is an interesting perspective. I am interested in hearing the next installment, and wonder if anything might help at this age. I have been eating a WAPF type diet for about fifteen years–I also thought the crooked and crowded teeth might be due to my immediate forbears not eating a traditional diet.
Aloha Joyce,
Thank you for stopping by to share your story with us. I think on a developmental level, you are spot on with your perspective here. If our previous generations ate a diet more supportive of their genetic expression, we would have wide, open palates with the perfect amount of space for all 32 teeth God gave us. Alas, the good news is that each generation that does make the shift toward a more supportive diet helps to restore the genetic momentum that was lost up to our generations.
We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.
By the way, doesn’t eating butter rather than margarine also influence this?
On a development level, absolutely! We plan to discuss this in an upcoming article.
I would definitely encourage anyone with children to observe their sleeping patterns, because we grow while we sleep. In my childhood, I always lay on my left side to face the wall on the right because my father always left the light on in the closet on the opposite side of the room. My sister, in the same room, was able to sleep on her back because the light wasn’t in her direction (hope you can picture this); her bed was along the same wall as the closet, and she was in shadow. My sister’s teeth weren’t nearly the mess mine were. Just saying, be careful what you do to your children!
Aloha Kathy,
Thank you for sharing your story with us! Yes, let’s all take better care of our children and together we’ll be heading in the right direction! 🙂
In the beginning of the article you state that wisdom teeth do not cause teeth to get crowded and get crooked. Later on you state that crowding and overlapping is one of the reasons why teeth get crooked. I’m confused?? Please explain.
Aloha Dr Gonzalez,
I’m sorry if the message was unclear the way we wrote it. Research suggests that wisdom teeth do not have the pressure necessary to be able to cause other teeth (that are well anchored in the jaw) to move. This is particularly so for lower (mandibular) wisdom teeth.
I hope that helps clear up anything that wasn’t clear in the article!
Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Thanks again for a wonderful article Will. I did have very straight teeth in the past and I do now have one teeth in the very front bottom slightly inside compared to its neighbors… I do work over 8 hrs on my computers since many years now… I do not sleep on my belly nor do I often sloughed on my fist… But I guess I should exercise more my back, neck and face. I do exercise quite a bit though, especially since the last weeks. I feel this is helping somehow at least to keep my back straight and strong and make my face look younger. I also feel that teeth in this condition would have to loose quite a bit of bone density and I feel that their density is somehow connected to the corresponding bones in the spine. Another reason to strengthen the back…
In any case thanks again for your wonderful articles, you have so much new data to provide!
Thanks for the kind words of support Helene!
Agreed on all points! 🙂
I’m looking forward to the next article about how to naturally straighten teeth because mine have become more uneven & I don’t know why. I don’t sleep on my belly or rest my head in my hands. Very interesting & I have never heard this info before. Thanks.
Aloha Wandalea,
Thank you for stopping by! Stay tuned for our follow up article with solutions for crowded teeth!
Thank you and Aloha!
My front teeths are moving outward what should I do
Aloha Jk,
Thanks for reaching out to us.
Here’s a link to an article and video that you might find helpful: How to Straighten Teeth Without Braces
Thanks again for reaching out!