If you wake up with soreness in your jaw or they feel lopsided when you're eating, you may have a bite malformation that needs reshaping. Malocclusions (bad bites) are often caused by loose, shifting, missing or crowded teeth. An adjustment may also help with tooth clenching and tooth sensitivity among others. This article highlights the three common bite malformations, why they occur and how they can be fixed.
1. Deep bites
A deep bite is just an exaggerated overbite, i.e. excessive overlap the upper (maxillary) incisors on the lower (mandibular) incisors. It is the most detrimental bite problem with far-reaching impact on oral and systemic health. A major challenge with deep bites is the rink of injury to soft mouth tissues, as difficulty in oral hygiene. It is also linked to more serious problems like headaches, hearing loss, burning in the tongue/throat/nose and dizziness because of sub-optimal jaw movement.
Deep bites are corrected using braces that enhance mandibular tooth placement while decreasing maxillary distance. You can use any traditional fixed braces, clear braces, removable or fixed aligners and hidden braces. This should be done in early adolescence, once the milk teeth give way to permanent teeth, for best results.
It's common to find the back of maxillary teeth and the front of mandibular teeth severely worn, and composite bonding is recommended to restore this. This can be followed by installing porcelain veneers, crowns or on-lays to improve the final appearance. Also, missing back teeth can make overbites even worse, so restoration using implants or bridges may be necessary.
2. Open bite
As the name suggests, open bites occur when there's a gap between the upper and lower incisors when the laws are closed. Open bites are a common cause of speech impediments, like having a lisp. It may be caused by a malformation of the jawbone or personal habits like tongue-thrusting, using pacifiers too long and thumb-sucking. Children may have temporary open-bite when shedding teeth, so treatment should wait until all milk teeth have fallen out.
Open bite is the most challenging malocclusion to correct. For instance, where open-bite is traced to malformed jawbones, orthognathic surgery may be the only way to fix it - part of the jaw is removed to improve jaw alignment. This is usually recommended in adulthood since other methods aren't as effective.
There are orthodontic devices that can be used to correct open bite. For instance, people that are prone to tongue-thrusting or biting on foreign objects (e.g. pens) can have appliances installed to prevent this from happening. Special gear can also be prescribed to improve jaw positioning. However, these options are only available to children and teenagers.
