Most often crooked teeth, overbites, and underbites are
inherited just as the color of your eyes or size of your feet.
Other causes of crooked teeth or misaligned bite:
– Early loss of baby or adult teeth
– Mouth breathing
– Tongue thrusting and reverse swallowing
– Thumb sucking, pacifier use, or prolonged use of a bottle beyond the age of
three.
What problems come with crooked teeth and misaligned bite?
- Have problems with proper chewing
- Have problems keeping teeth clean, thus increasing the chances of tooth decay and gum disease.
- Misaligned teeth can cause using and overloading some of the teeth and increases the chance of cracking them.
- Can affect the self-esteem
Treatment: The first step is to diagnose the problem. Your dentist will decide on the best course of action for you. Generally they are three ways for treatment.
-Removable retainers for easy correction
-Appliances to correct the oral habits that cause poor teeth or jaw development
-Braces
-Invisalign or Clear Correct- clear alternative to metal braces.
When is the right time to start?
It depends on the type of the problem as well as the child’s ability to cooperate. “Underbite” is a condition that should be correct as soon as it’s discovered. The urgency comes from the fact that the upper jaw can stop its growth because it’s blocked by the lower jaw. Your dentist can use appliance to restore the growth on the upper jaw and another one that holds back growth of the lower jaw while the upper jaw has a chance to “catch up”. Often this can make the difference in avoiding jaw surgery later on.