The way that your top and bottom teeth fit together can have a huge impact on not just your teeth and mouth but in some cases can cause side effects and symptoms that affect your overall health and wellbeing.
What is Occlusion?
The way your upper and lower teeth fit together is often referred to as your ‘bite’ and the way that this bite aligns is what’s known as dental occlusion.
If the alignment is correct then the upper teeth should fit slightly over the lower teeth, with the points of the molars fitting into the grooves of those opposite for a balanced, healthy bite.
But not everyone is fortunate enough to have an ideal or normal bite and there are a number of different types of bites and bite issues also known as ‘malocclusion’.
What are the different types of bites?
Other than the ideal or normal bite type described above, here are some of the most common bite problems;
Overbite
The upper teeth bite over in front of the bottom teeth which may look like large or ‘buck teeth’.
Underbite
The lower teeth will protrude in front of the top teeth which can make patients appear as if they have large lower jaws.
Crossbite
This means that the upper and lower jaws are misaligned in some or all areas, causing one or more of the upper teeth to sit inside the lower teeth.
Open bite
The teeth are unable to contact each other or come together when they bite or chew which can make speech and chewing difficult.
What causes Occlusion issues?
There are a number of different causes or reasons that malocclusion can occur;
- Inherited conditions
- Lost, extra or impacted teeth
- Birth defects such as cleft palates
- Difference in size between the upper and lower jaws
- Teeth are too large for the jaws
- Alignment issues
- Childhood habits such as thumb sucking, tongue thrusting or extended use of a dummy
- Dentistry issues (poorly fitted braces, crowns or retainers)
- Mouth or jaw tumors
Why does Occlusion matter?
Ideally, your teeth and jaw joints should work in harmony to allow you to speak, chew, smile and bite together with ease.
However, if this relationship is out of balance, then it can have devastating effects on your oral and overall health. Just some of the issues, side effects and symptoms of a misaligned bite include;
- Broken, chipped or cracked teeth
- Receding gums
- Tooth loss
- Jaw pain
- Speech problems, such as a lisp
- Headaches
- Difficulty breathing
- Tooth sensitivity
- Abnormal facial appearance
- Loose or shifting teeth
- Damaged dental restorations (bridges, crowns etc)
- Problems biting or chewing
- Teeth grinding
A properly aligned bite can help to prevent this long list of issues, as well as greatly reduce the strain on teeth and jaws and the risk of tooth decay and gum disease.
What are the treatment options?
Most alignment problems are minor and may not need to be treated but those that do can typically be corrected using a number of different treatments such as;
- Tooth removal
- Orthodontics using either clear aligners or fixed metal braces
- Oral / jaw surgery
- Tooth repair including capping, reshaping or composite bonding
- Expansion of arches
- Splint therapy
- Nightguard
If you think that you might have a problem with your bite, then it is important to schedule a consultation with your dentist as soon as possible so they can take a look and ascertain the cause of your issues. From this they will be able to come up with an effective treatment plan that will help to resolve the problems you were having and restore your bite so that is looks and functions as it should.
Comments are closed.