Many of us don’t think much about our biting patterns, especially if we’re lucky enough to have good dental genes inherited from our parents. However, some of us were kids who had to wear hoods that came with multiple braces and even the extensive biting issues we developed as kids. While it is not always possible to prevent bite misalignment, there are steps you can take to make sure you monitor your child’s jaw and bite development as they grow to take early action if needed.
The best way to keep track of how your baby’s bite is developing is to schedule their first dentist visit to a pediatric dentist by their first birthday and an orthodontist visit by age 6. This is the best time to take early action to stop any misalignment in your path and correct bad habits. As baby teeth are replaced by adult teeth, you want to carefully monitor their growth, making sure they come straight and right next to the surrounding teeth without excessive gaps or crowding. When the jaws are closed, the upper teeth should descend slightly over the lower teeth.
The most common abnormalities to look for in your child’s bite are:
Bite (Underbite)
Ideally, the front teeth should overlap the lower teeth and overlap very little when the jaw is closed. In the lower jaw, the opposite happens, and the lower jaw protrudes a little more than the upper part. This is also called a class 3 malocclusion or prognathism. This type of condition is often inherited, and children whose parent has an underbite are likely to show symptoms early. Thumb sucking during the infancy and toddler stages can also play an important role in causing underbites.
The pushing motion used to suck the thumb and pacifier can cause serious strain on the teeth and jaw muscles and should be treated as soon as possible.
Overbite
Overbite occurs when the upper front teeth overlap the lower front teeth, but more exaggerated than natural. To some extent, everyone has a little bit of overbite, except for people with low bites. The bigger problem with this misalignment is that it causes unhealthy wear and tear on the teeth and can cause great jaw pain and lead to conditions like TMJ. Overbites are usually measured in percentages, making the ideal bite between 5-25%. Overbiting above this range can be difficult to treat, so it’s important to watch out for this abnormality in your children from the age of six.
Open Bite
A type of malocclusion called an open bite occurs when the upper and lower teeth cannot meet when the jaw is closed. There are several reasons why an open bite may occur, two of the most common being thumb sucking and tongue thrusting. Pushing is caused by the act of involuntarily pushing the tongue out while speaking and swallowing. There are ways to temporarily stop this habit with various devices that can be worn in the mouth. It is much easier to treat when a child is still young and much more difficult to deal with later in adult life.
TMJ or temporomandibular joint disorder is another problem closely related to open bite. The combination of tongue thrusting and a skeletal genetic problem can cause too much pressure on the jaw, resulting in malforming and incorrectly repositioning the jaw.
Crossbite
Sometimes the teeth are not fully fixed on top of each other, sometimes they deviate more to one side than the other. This is usually evident in childhood and is not self-correcting like other adjustment problems can. If left untreated, the effects of crossbite can cause significant health problems later in life, so it’s important to make sure you monitor your child for any signs of this mismatch in oral development. There are a variety of treatment options available, including palatal or maxillary expanders, removable expanders, surgically assisted rapid expanders, and standard braces used with expansion to help correct crossbite and straighten teeth.
Spacing Problems
Adult teeth should come together without too much crowding or too wide gaps. However, it is not unusual for this type of thing to occur, which causes many children to eventually seek help from braces to correct these imperfections. Often, these space issues are the result of a discrepancy between the size of the jaw and teeth, but not a crowding issue. It can be corrected even if it requires the extraction of a few teeth to make more room to dissolve. There are several types of biting problems that can occur in both the upper and lower teeth, and the best way to resolve these issues is to consult an orthodontist for an early assessment when adult teeth begin to erupt.
Abnormal Eruptions
Some protrusions in the jaw where the upper teeth turn outward or retrusions where the lower teeth appear too far back may occur. These problems can be addressed in early childhood and are mostly caused by the lack of place or early loss of primary teeth.
Beautiful and straight teeth are not only important from an aesthetic point of view. Bite problems that require orthodontic intervention can be a health hazard that can later develop into painful and debilitating conditions that may require surgery if left unattended. Genetics plays a huge role in your child’s biting pattern, so if you’ve struggled with orthodontic issues in your own life, pay special attention to whether your child’s teeth are growing and developing during their growing years.
