If left untreated, an overbite could cause significant health complications. These include irreparable damage to teeth from abnormal positioning and possible jaw pain, severe headaches, including temporomandibular joint disorders (TMJ).
Jaw and tooth misalignments can make you overcompensate when chewing and talking, eventually leading to facial pain. If you have a severe overbite, it could cause discomfort when biting or chewing, headaches, and even lead to jaw joint problems like temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder.
While minor overbites may not require treatment, severe overbites can cause jaw pain, enamel wear, tooth decay, gum disease, speech interference, and other dental problems. People with significant overbites should get orthodontic treatment as soon as possible to prevent these issues.
A little bit of an overbite is completely normal. If the upper front teeth didn't slightly overlap the bottom teeth, they would hit each other whenever you bit down, leading to premature wear of the enamel. A complete lack of an overbite is actually its own problem, called an open bite.
Whilst it's best to catch issues as early as possible, it's never too late to address an overbite. For most cases the use of discreet braces or invisible aligners will gradually move the teeth into the right position.
Unfortunately, overbites not only get worse or more pronounced with age, but they cause a number of symptoms that can get worse with age as well, including headaches, trouble chewing, sinus issues, jaw pain, gum disease, and/or tooth decay.
You cannot fix overbite naturally; braces or surgery will be needed to correct an overbite. However, you can prevent some cases of overbite when you cure some childhood habits like thumb sucking, pencil chewing — overuse of dummies for babies.
Yes, fixing an overbite can change the shape of your face. Overbites make your face look asymmetric. Furthermore, they can cause discomfort, and they may also affect speech and make wearing dentures difficult.
It Depends on the Severity
It becomes an option after your jaw stops developing, which happens between 14 to 21 years of age, depending on gender and other factors. While some patients with severe overbites may benefit from surgery, there are several less invasive treatments available for patients who qualify for them.
Overbite
It seems that the development of overbite coincides with the invention of the fork, and since then it has become a characteristic of teeth that we consider attractive. Of course, too much of an overbite can be just as unattractive as no overbite or an underbite.
Facial Structure Altered by an Overbite
An overbite often gives the patient a recessive chin which makes their face look shorter and rounder and can make them appear older than they are. With orthodontic treatment the jaw's position changes because the chin comes forward and the face looks longer and narrower.
Your teeth affect your appearance, not just your smile. Patients with an overbite, or prior history of an overbite, are predisposed to having a double chin (i.e. submental fullness). The lower jaw bone in patients with an overbite will often be relatively too small, and subsequently the chin is weak or recessive.
Cindy Crawford, Freddie Mercury, and Tom Cruise. These stars all had either an overbite or underbite. Unlike Cindy Crawford and Tom Cruise, Freddie Mercury never sought treatment to resolve his overbite. He didn't want to risk altering his vocal abilities due to the oral work required to correct his prominent overbite.
Any overbite over 3-4 mm is considered excessive and should be corrected, to prevent the associated problems, including pain, trouble biting or chewing, or lasting tooth or gum damage.
How do I treat and correct an overbite? Teeth removal – dentists and orthodontists try to avoid this procedure but will do this in very severe overbite cases to allow the teeth more freedom to move. Surgery – jaw problems for skeletal-type overbites can only be corrected with surgery for adults.
If your orthodontist says you have a 100 percent overbite, it means that your upper teeth completely cover your lower teeth.
There really is no upper age limit for getting braces. As long as you have teeth and they are healthy, you may benefit from orthodontic treatment.
Try tilting your head to find an angle you're more comfortable with as you smile. Raising or lowering your head just a little bit can significantly change which teeth are visible. Raising the head, in particular, can make a smaller smile seem larger and brighter.
A normal, healthy overbite is usually around 1-2mm. If an overbite is deeper than this, it can result in excessive tooth wear, the protrusion of the front teeth, and even damage to the gums behind the upper teeth. In the most severe cases, this can even lead to the loss of the front teeth.
Most people with an overbite look older than they are, as overbites tend to make the face rounder and soften the definition that gives the face youthfulness. The over-extension of the upper jaw over the lower jaw can also make the patient appear grumpy.
When you have an underbite or overbite, your top or bottom jaw may protrude. If you're like many people who need braces, you probably avoid smiling because you're embarrassed about your appearance. Braces can give you straight teeth and your jawline will look more sculpted when it moves into a healthy, ideal position.
Several face structures have an impact on your overall appearance. The jaw bone is responsible for defining your chin and cheeks, for example. An overbite can be easily seen in someone's profile images because of this. Having a severe overbite can cause your top lip to protrude, which is an unattractive look and feel.