Having crooked teeth can make even the most confident person insecure about his or her smile. In fact, a recent study found that 81 percent of American adults are insecure about their smile - and about 28 percent of them won’t even smile in pictures! But poor self-esteem isn’t the only problem caused by crooked teeth. Believe it or not, having a bad bite can contribute to many other ailments you may have never considered.

When you have temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ disorder), it can sometimes feel like everything hurts. From your jaw to your ears, teeth, head, neck and even back and shoulders, pain from TMJ disorder can radiate throughout your upper body and disrupt your whole life. But how can you get relief in your back if the pain is coming from your jaw? Believe it or not, studies have shown that while the pain you may be feeling in your back is directly connected to your jaw, there may be more to it than that – it could be your posture!

A recent article in an Irish newspaper is causing quite a stir here in the United States for claiming that a new form of ear insert can alleviate some of the symptoms of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder. The catch: It’s from right here in America, and most people here have never heard of it. It’s a custom-fit device called Cerezen, and it sits just inside the ear canal like a hearing aid might. But instead of helping you hear, Cerezen claims to help stop bruxism (also known as teeth grinding) and alleviate pain-causing pressure on the muscles and joints affected by TMJ disorder.

If you’ve ever been told you have a "bad bite," chances are you can see for yourself that your teeth are out of alignment. From a strictly cosmetic standpoint, a bad bite doesn’t usually look so great, and most people who have bad bites have probably considered correcting them with braces or other orthodontics. But a bad bite can be far more serious than simply having crooked teeth. A bad bite can not only cause uneven wear on the teeth, but it can also cause damage to the teeth, jaw soreness, bruxism (or teeth grinding) and even temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ disorder).

They’re one of the most coveted signs of beauty today: thick, luscious lips. But getting them isn’t always as easy or affordable as it seems. It used to be if you weren’t born with them, you were out of luck, but a variety of products designed to make your lips look bigger and fuller have popped up in recent years. One trend, lip injections, uses fillers such as collagen or hyaluronic acid to semi-permanently plump up the lips. Unfortunately, these injections can be painful and costly. Lip-enhancing glosses and pencils are painless and far less expensive, but only last as long as the products remain on your lips. Until recently, these were the only options, but a new product has now hit the market – suction-cup lip plumpers.