If you grind your teeth at night, your dentist may recommend that you start wearing a dental appliance at night. Often, overbites can simply be caused by genetics. Though jaw sizes and shapes can be underdeveloped due to childhood habits, some individuals experience issues with the size and shape of their jaw due to genetics.
One major non-genetic cause of overbite is thumb-sucking at a young age. Despite what many believe, this can affect not only baby teeth, but also the formation of adult teeth as well. For some, fixing an overbite could just be a way of improving your smile cosmetically, but for others, letting an overbite go untreated can lead to more oral health issues down the road. Although some solutions to an overbite can be expensive, they may end up saving you money in the long run by correcting more serious problems.
In serious overbite cases, the upper teeth can reach all the way down to the bottom gums, which can lead to receding gums. Gum recession is a serious issue that can lead to a multitude of problems down the road including:. Critical overbites can lead to issues while sleeping. For many, this includes obstructive sleep apnea. OSA is a sleep disorder caused by air blockage while one is sleeping. Though many believe that sleep apnea is only common in older individuals, it can actually affect individuals of any age or gender.
This problem that may seem minor now could turn into a very serious issue down the road. Another side effect of overbites includes chronic jaw pain. Because an overbite may be caused by the shape, size, or alignment of the jaw, this may result in serious pain in the jaw area. With pain in your jaw, you may also experience headaches related to the shape of your mouth and alignment of your teeth.. An overbite causes teeth to constantly be in contact with each other, causing tension in irregular areas of the mouth.
Because of this tension and contact, teeth may begin slowly wearing down, potentially leading to:. The position of your teeth plays a direct role in your speech. Braces are effective for treating most overbite problems. As part of the assessment stage, x-rays help determine the overbite type and the relationship between the teeth and jaw.
Braces are then attached to the top and lower arches of the teeth. The arch wire first straightens and aligns the teeth. During the second stage of braces, elastics small rubber bands may be used to slowly shift the jawline into the correct position.
The bands are fitted on the brackets from top to bottom or front to back to help move the teeth and jaw. The bands are removed before eating, drinking and brushing teeth and replaced. It is important to wear the bands at all times so constant pressure is applied. Wearing them on and off can cause the teeth and jaw to ache more often. The final stage of treatment is to wear a retainer or use a permanent wire to keep the teeth in the desired place.
Some patients have the choice of the more concealed options of ceramic or lingual inside braces or Invisalign aligners to fix their overbite. With an overbite, typically the earlier the orthodontic treatment can start the better. If a patient is grinding their teeth and clenching their jaw, they are damaging their teeth. Some overbites make teeth cleaning difficult so the patient is at risk of tooth decay and gum disease.
Living with regular headaches, migraines and jaw pain can impact everyday life. For some patients these health problems improve as soon as braces start moving the jaw into place.
A deep overbite is one of the longest orthodontic conditions to fix with braces. The patient is likely to have crooked teeth or overcrowding so there are multiple problems to work on. Every case is different but for severe overbite cases braces could be needed for at least two years. Once the braces come off, a retainer is worn to keep the teeth in place. Some adults with severe skeletal overbite and jaw problems need more than braces to correct the problem and surgery is required to reposition the jaw.
Braces need to be used in combination with other treatments such as surgery or tooth extractions. An orthodontist refers patients to an oral surgeon or dentist for extractions. Children and some teens have the benefit of a growing jaw to assist the braces move it into the correct position so surgery is less likely. Early treatment of children may include a palate expander to increase the size of the jaw to accommodate the crowded teeth in a small jaw.
A larger jaw makes it an easier job for the braces to move teeth into the correct position and stops the need for removing teeth. Parents most often recognise their child with an overbite has an orthodontic problem that needs attention. Children with an overbite will often come in earlier for treatment than other problems because they have health or psychological problems related to their teeth.
Someone with an overbite will often suffer from related health problems. Other causes are:. If left untreated, an overbite could cause significant health complications. These include irreparable damage to teeth from abnormal positioning and possible jaw pain including temporomandibular joint disorders TMJ. Other overbite complications include:. An untreated overbite could also dramatically alter the facial structure and lead to issues like low self-esteem.
If an overbite in early childhood is severe, and continues to worsen, aesthetic deterioration could take place as early as pre-pubescence. Generally, a dentist will refer a patient with an overbite to an orthodontist for treatment.
For children and teens, the most common issue is crowding of teeth in the mouth. For many adults with an overbite problem, the lack of preventative treatment early in life has led to the more severe symptoms associated with overbites. In either case, the orthodontist or dentist will examine the area and write up a treatment plan that can last for up to two years and possibly longer. Initial x-rays will be taken to determine the type of overbite and the relationship between the teeth and the jaw in determining the best treatment.
Here are some treatments your orthodontist or dentist may recommend to correct an overbite issue:. In any case, for both children and adults, the best way to prevent dental issues from occurring is to make sure you visit a dentist early and often.
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