Are you or your child suffering a malocclusion of your teeth? Please call our office right away to set up your free consultation with us today. We can offer treatment to provide relief.
Causes and Symptoms of Malocclusion
Malocclusions can also be described as bad bites. Essentially, if you have issues with your top and bottom teeth aligning when you bite down, you may need treatment. There are several solutions to malocclusions. Please keep reading to learn more.
The following are the most common causes and symptoms of malocclusions.
Common Causes
There are a few things that can cause malocclusions. Thumb-sucking as a child could have caused you to have this condition now. Typically this is something that you would have done for an extended period.
You don’t often end up with malocclusions if you only used a pacifier or sucked your thumb for the first year of your life. Issues more frequently arise in people who had been doing this into their toddlerhood.
If you have a missing tooth that a dentist did not replace, your other teeth may have shifted in a way that left you with a malocclusion.
Common Symptoms
You may need orthodontic treatment if you have an under or overbite.
An underbite would be when you bite down, and your bottom teeth cover your top teeth.
An overbite is when there is too much space between your top and bottom teeth when you bite down, and your bottom teeth are too far behind your top teeth.
Other common symptoms include having trouble talking, experiencing discomfort when biting, and breathing through your mouth.
How Can I Receive a Diagnosis?
There are three classes of malocclusions. Class 1 was the most common type of malocclusion. This is when you have your upper teeth slightly overlapping your lower teeth.
Class 2 malocclusions are also referred to as retrognathism or overbites. This is a severe overlap of your upper teeth over your lower teeth.
A prognathism or underbite is a Class 3 malocclusion. Patients who suffer this have a lower jaw that juts out over the upper jaw.
To diagnose malocclusions, you will have a thorough oral examination by your orthodontist. They will likely take x-ray imaging to get a clear look at what is happening under the surface that may be causing your overbite or underbite.
Once you have a diagnosis, you can get the treatment you need.
How We Can Treat a Malocclusion
One of the most common treatments for malocclusions is orthodontic care, and braces can be the solution for many people. When your teeth are pulled into alignment, it can fix underlying issues to restore your bite to a normal, more comfortable position.
Tooth aligners can also help place your teeth into proper alignment. These are clear plastic pieces that encourage the re-alignment of your teeth.
If crowding is a cause of your malocclusion, we can remove teeth to solve the problem and help you bite more comfortably and regularly.
Lastly, in severe cases, we may need to perform surgery on the haw to fix issues that are either genetic or a result of injuries that were not adequately healed.
Free Consultation with a WNY Orthodontist
If you want to fix your malocclusion, please contact our WNY orthodontists today to set up a free consultation at one of our several WNY locations.
To learn more, contact Orthodontists Associates of Western New York for a free screening.
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Orthodontists Associates of Western New York is proud to offer dentofacial orthodontic treatment throughout Buffalo, Lancaster, Olean, Hamburg, Orchard Park, Dunkirk, East Aurora, and Niagara Falls, New York. If you have questions about dentofacial orthodontics, don’t hesitate to contact one of our seven convenient orthodontic offices to arrange a free consultation.
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