We are all perfect and unique and with those little traits medical and physical come in some cases little problems that could be easily adjusted to make our lives a little easier. Today I’m specifically talking about bites – which is the alignment of our jaws. And though misalignment can be no issue cosmetically and can even more some people be a part of their appearance they really enjoy, sometimes these bite discrepancies can actually impact health and function.
Are Your Teeth Correctly Aligned?
If your teeth are in the correct position, they will sit with the top teeth just slightly overlapping the bottom row. If you find that your top teeth are particularly over pronounced or that your bottom teeth overlap the top or that they twist around each other you could be experiencing either an over, under or crossbite.
What Causes an Overbite Misalignment?
If you appear to have an overbite, then as mentioned your top till will be pulling forward more than they should do. Overbite misalignment comes in varying severities and depending on this will control what action can be taken when looking to alter it.
The reasons for an overbite could be related to genetics. If you’ve scanned those family photos and noticed a history of promintated front teeth, it’s likely the reasons you’ve developed an overbite will be as a result of your heritage. Other reasons could be teeth grinding or sucking your thumb as both these habits if repeated during the development of teeth could cause an alignment issue.
What Causes an Underbite Misalignment?
If your lower jaw juts out more than your top teeth and so your bottom teeth fit over the top this is called an underbite. Again, these can vary in severity but when they are prominent can cause issues with chewing, speaking and cause people discomfort.
Again, for the most part these are due to genetics, but they could be caused through thumb sucking, pushing teeth with your tongue, if a dummy has been used or bottle-feeding past infancy. Those who mouth breath at a young age could also develop underbites.
What Causes a Crossbite Misalignment?
Similarly, it’s usually genetics, mouth breathing, childhood habits or a delay in losing your baby teeth that could cause a crossbite to develop.
How To Correct Misalignments
In most cases dentists look to braces to fix alignment issues, there are so many different orthodontic styles on the market now with Invisalign London becoming more and more popular. Invisalign London is a clear tray system that sits snugly over the teeth and uses a series of different aligners to push and pull the teeth and jaw into a new position. This method is very popular with adults as it’s a very subtle form of correction that is easily adaptable to a modern, busy lifestyle.
Teeth removal could be needed in order to correct an alignment, if the mouth is suffering from overcrowding, then it could be that teeth need to be removed before correct alignment can be done.
In very severe cases surgery could be needed, this would be if the alignment was in some way related to a jawbone or skeletal problem.
