How to correct a child's overbite

Overbite is a dental deformity caused by incorrect breastfeeding posture. When the child is young, it may affect one or several teeth. As the number of teeth continues to increase, the number of affected teeth also increases accordingly. If it is not corrected in time, the overbite in adulthood will be very ugly and will also affect the health of the teeth. So, how to correct children’s overbite? What are the methods?

If an overbite occurs, treatment should be started earlier because the jawbone, that is, the bone around the teeth, grows earlier than the body. The jaw develops early, so "overbite" will affect the growth and development of the entire oral cavity, face, and jaw.

Generally speaking, most of the baby's dental deformities need to be corrected after the permanent teeth have grown in. However, "underbite" cannot be treated after the permanent teeth have grown in and needs to be treated as soon as possible.

1. The treatment stage for crossbite during the deciduous dentition period is around 2-5 years old, and the best treatment age is around 4 years old. At this time, the baby's permanent teeth have not yet erupted, and the roots of the deciduous teeth have not been absorbed. During treatment, you only need to follow the doctor's guidance and use simple methods such as wearing removable braces and correcting bad oral habits. The treatment can be completed in 3-6 months.

2. This period is the period of occlusion and if crossbite occurs during the period of occlusion, the treatment should be between 6 and 12 years old, and the best treatment age should be around 9 years old. At this time, it is only a crossbite, which is relatively easy to correct. Depending on the child's underbite condition, removable or fixed appliances can be used from mild to severe, or even extraoral plastic surgery can be used to correct the teeth.

3. If the underbite is not corrected in time during the replacement dentition period, and usually needs correction in the permanent dentition period after the age of 12, more complex orthodontic appliances will be needed. The correction is difficult, time-consuming, and expensive, and the facial shape will not be significantly improved. In severe cases, orthognathic surgery must be performed for correction.

Causes of the formation of underbite

First, the family factor causing the baby's deciduous teeth crossbite is incorrect feeding posture. If the mother holds the bottle too high, the baby will have to stretch out his lower jaw to drink the milk. Over time, the lower jaw will protrude more than the upper jaw, forming an underbite.

Second, if one of the parents has an underbite, the baby may inherit it, and this possibility accounts for 1/3;

Third, let the baby develop bad habits such as sucking fingers, biting lips, chewing objects, sticking out tongue, protruding mandible, etc. and use pacifier for too long;

Fourth, it is caused by local obstacles during the tooth replacement period. Retention or withdrawal of deciduous teeth, premature loss of upper molars, and posterior displacement of upper permanent teeth can all cause "underbite".

Fifth, if the baby has chronic inflammation of the palatine tonsils or lingual tonsils, long-term stimulation of the mandibular protrusion will cause anterior crossbite over time; patients after cleft lip and palate surgery often have insufficient maxillary development, which can easily cause anterior crossbite and mesial malocclusion, and the mandible will become prominent; patients with rickets and endocrine diseases may develop "underbite".