Open Bite Correction
Teeth alignment and how they meet together is called occlusion. A normal person’s bite would bring both the upper and lower jaws together. But in a person with an open bite, the teeth of the upper and lower front do not come together when the person’s mouth is closed. An open bite affects the appearance of a person’s smile, as well as causes difficulty in speaking. An open bite also leads to a lisp or other speech impediments.
There are three main factors which contribute to the misalignment of the teeth and an open bite.
- Jawbone problems.
- Mixed dentition (a set of milk and permanent teeth in the mouth don’t match with the occlusion.)
- Habits like thumb sucking and tongue thrusting (push the tongue through the teeth) during swallowing or while speaking.
Correcting an open bite
- Using habit breaking appliances
- Bluegrass appliance
- Vertical pull chin cup for jaw correction
- Elastics
- Bite blocks
- Orthognathic Surgery
- Glossectomy (Macroglossia- larger than average tongue size)
