Tips On Overbite Before and After Braces | Normal Overbite

Overbite Before And After Braces

You might have been told by your dentist to go see an orthodontist about an overbite or an over jet. It is not normal overbite but also not unheard of to either still have a slight overbite when you get your braces off or to have one return a few years later. Depending on the amount of the overbite after braces, you can choose to not deal with it and keep the overbite, or you can choose to get braces again and correct the overbite. Let’s learn a bit more about overbite before and after braces.

What to Know about Overbite Before And After Braces?

An overbite is not the same thing as an overjet. An overjet is when all of your upper teeth are too far ahead of the lower ones. A normal overbite happens when the upper teeth are on the outside of the lower ones, hiding the lower teeth. Overbites in people who have jaw alignment issues can also lead to TMJ (the hinge for your lower jaw) discomfort, jaw pain, and headaches. If you have a significant overbite after braces, you can even look like your chin is receding so the shape of your face is unbalanced.

Overbites are sometimes genetic, but they can also be caused by children thumb sucking or using a pacifier once the teeth have grown in. For teenagers, chewing on pen caps or pencils can aggravate an overbite as well. These habits push the front teeth out and the bottom teeth back. Nearly 70% of kids who have dental issues have an overbite.

There are two types of overbites. Vertical overbites are when the upper teeth overlap the bottom teeth. Horizontal overbites are mostly for the upper front teeth when they stick out over the bottom teeth. These result from a number of issues. It is possible to have both vertical and horizontal overbites at the same time. You can also have an overbite if you have some missing teeth on the bottom jaw and the remaining teeth have drifted backward.

Skeletal overbites are when the upper jaw is too large or the lower jaw is too small and it makes the top teeth and bottom teeth not line up correctly. Dental overbites are when just the teeth cause the overbite. These two types have very different treatment options.

Some really severe overbites after braces may need to be treated by surgery to correct the jaw problems, particularly skeletal overbites. Kids’ jaws can often be fixed by palate expanders or other appliances avoiding jaw surgery, but once the jawbone is set, there are fewer options.

Other overbites after braces may need to be corrected in conjunction with the tooth extraction. Once the teeth are pulled, there is no more room for the front teeth to be pulled back into place. This usually happens when the teeth are crowded or if the upper jaw is too small.

If you don’t get your overbite before and after the problem fixed, it can even affect your speech. Overbites can lead to lisps because the tongue doesn’t connect with the teeth correctly. Not correcting an overbite means your adult teeth will wear improperly and they could weaken or break. And it may make cleaning your gums and teeth more difficult.

Overbites can also make it hard to close your mouth completely, so you end up breathing through your mouth, and that can lead to dry mouth and bad breath. It might even mean that your upper jawbone will actually become deformed.

Sometimes overbites can get worse during orthodontic treatment because as the teeth move, they can start to create gaps or other mismatches. Even though the teeth were not aligned properly before you got braces, they were in the bones and set, and now they are moving, but not all at the same time. They will adjust over time and they will also settle into a new position, so don’t panic! Wearing braces is a process, and things work in stages. If you have any questions, ask your orthodontist. Also, ask he/she to some pictures of overbite before and after braces. He or she will be happy to answer them for you.

Noticing a slight Overbite Before And After Braces

One thing to note is that a healthy bite actually has a slight overbite component to it. This usually is between 1-2 mm where the top and bottom teeth don’t match exactly.

Sometimes when you get the braces off, you still have a slight overbite because the alternative is invasive and expensive jaw surgery. Braces and elastics have limits of what they can correct, although modern technologies have made it possible for more to be done without surgery. Still, surgery might be the only solution for some people but realize that the recovery time is going to be several weeks, because your jaw will need time to heal before you can get your braces on. It does help make major alignment changes right away and it might take care of your overbite entirely. Surgery is also the most expensive treatment option, so for many people it is not even considered.

Also, after you get the braces off, you might have some teeth move back into their original positions, a situation called regression, so you might still have overbite after braces.

Having overbite after braces later in life

You might wonder, “can overbite come back after braces?” It happens sometimes if you get braces too young without a follow-up treatment that your overbite will return. This is not due to the teeth moving but rather the jaw finishing growing into its final adult size.

Now, if you weren’t diligent about wearing your retainer once the braces came off, your teeth will certainly drift. The jaw is actually not a dense bone, but it’s rather more like a matrix, and your teeth are anchored by ligaments. If you have just gotten your braces off, the matrix has not yet finished setting around your teeth and those ligaments will try to contract again, so that ends up making your teeth drift back to where they were before you got braces.

You might be able to get a new retainer to help bring the teeth back into their proper alignment if it hasn’t been too long and the teeth haven’t drifted too far.

If you choose to get them fixed, you will have X-rays taken of your teeth to see how significant your overbite is and also what condition your jaw and teeth are in. Consulting with your orthodontist is important for treatment planning. He or she might even recommend that you don’t need to have braces before and after overbite because your overbite after braces is not that significant. You might also not have good bone density in your jaw to make braces work correctly. If your orthodontist decides that you are a good candidate, he or she will make an impression of your teeth to use to make a plaster cast. That cast is what will be used to create the braces plan or to craft the clear aligners with.