The mandibles are strong bones that can generate a lot of power when they open and close. This power is the exact reason why your teeth should only touch when you're eating. In fact, the continued unnecessary impact that happens can take a toll on your teeth, gums, and jaw over time.
PROPER JAW POSTURE
The teeth should not touch ever – except when swallowing. This comes as a big surprise to most people. When not chewing or swallowing, the tip of the tongue should rest gently on the tip and back of the lower incisors.
3. Jaw Issues: When your teeth touch even in a relaxed state, it indicates jaw clenching. The pressure exerted by the jaw can accumulate and disrupt the balance of the temporomandibular joints (TMJ). This can result in headaches, jaw spasms, and other discomforts.
If you're sitting upright, resting comfortably then your front teeth (and the rest of your teeth) should not be touching. Think about it the next time you're sitting and watching TV. Your lower jaw will sit relaxed, separating your teeth. Unless you're sitting with your jaw clenched which would probably feel quite odd.
Proper oral posture means that at rest the tongue is to the roof of the mouth, the teeth are touching or slightly apart, and the lips are together without strain.
The pointed ends of the upper teeth should fit perfectly between two teeth on the bottom, while the upper teeth should sit slightly in front of your lower teeth.
Your teeth are apart (not touching or clenched together) – This signifies that your jaw is relaxed.
When your mouth is at rest, your tongue should be against the roof of your mouth, but it should not be pressing against any of your teeth. Your teeth should be slightly apart, and your lips should be closed.
When our bite is off, our muscles become strained. You may notice clicking sounds when you eat, chronic migraines, snoring, a sore jaw, and other uncomfortable issues. Our temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is the part of our mouth that acts as a hinge, attaching our lower jawbone to our skull.
The extent of incisal tooth display at rest is an important esthetic factor in evaluating the outcome of fixed and removable prosthodontic procedures [1]. Accepted prosthodontics guidelines recommend displaying 2–4 mm in the arrangement of upper incisor teeth below the relaxed lip [2].
The backs of the upper front teeth should rest in gentle contact with the fronts of the lower ones. This means that the upper teeth are in front of the lowers when the bite is closed. The edges of the upper teeth should not bite directly on the edges of the lower incisors or behind them (known as an underbite).
Awareness of habits or jaw use patterns
The teeth are supposed to make contact during eating and swallowing, but at no other time. When the jaw is not working during eating. swallowing, yawning and talking, the teeth should be apart and the jaw should be at rest.
Awake bruxism may be due to emotions such as anxiety, stress, anger, frustration or tension. Or it may be a coping strategy or a habit during deep concentration. Sleep bruxism may be a sleep-related chewing activity associated with arousals during sleep.
If you've noticed a slight change in your smile or teeth alignment, it may be an indication that your bite has shifted. This condition is known as malocclusion and results from crooked or crowded teeth and misalignment between the lower and upper dental arches.
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.
You shouldn't be experiencing any pain in your bite, if you do have some pain in your jawbone or in the muscles around your jaw, this can be an indicator of a misaligned bite. If your teeth are aligned with each other and symmetrical on the upper and lower jaw line, this is a good sign that your bite is healthy.
Give Yourself the Clench Test
With your mouth empty so there is nothing between your teeth to bite on, close your teeth together and squeeze hard. If clenching your teeth together causes any sign of discomfort in any tooth, you have a disharmony in your bite.
Rubbing and thrusting of the tongue against the teeth occurs as a manifestation of anxiety in the tense, apprehensive, pent-up individual; it occurs par ticularly when the person is subject to emo tional stress.
Proper oral resting posture is achieved when the following is present: mouth is closed with teeth touching (or just slightly apart) lips are closed. tongue is resting on the roof of your mouth (the hard palate)
The natural position for healthy breathing is always with a closed mouth, inhaling and exhaling through the nose.
We tend to tense our jaws when stressed, so letting it hang slack lets go of some of that stress. The same with our shoulders-they tense with stress, so letting them go and relaxing releases the built up tensions.
Lip incompetence, also known as mentalis strain, refers to a condition characterized by an inability to easily hold the lips together while at rest. Other common features of lip incompetence include protruding lips, and strain in the lower facial region when you try to seal your lips.
Baby and permanent teeth are both slightly pliable because of your periodontal ligaments, the small muscle fibers that hold the roots of your teeth in place. Although some movement is normal, if a tooth can move more than 1 mm, it has greater mobility than it should.