What is an underbite and how does it affect my facial structure?
An underbite is essentially, you know, ideally, we want to see your top jaw, top teeth overlapping like this—your bottom teeth. But with an underbite, it's actually reversed. So your bottom jaw is placed more forward and your top jaw is a little bit behind—your top teeth are behind. It actually could be your jaw, or it could be your teeth, but this is actually how it will look when someone has an underbite. And how it affects your facial structure is you will see, as your teeth or your jaw is more—the bottom jaw is more aligned forward—you will have a bit of a protrusion of your bottom jaw. Or we can even see, in some cases, that more protrusion of your chin. So that's essentially how it looks and how the facial structure would look when somebody has an underbite. Obviously, the extent can vary from patient to patient.
How does an underbite compare to the overbite and how are each of them treated?
The difference or comparison between underbite—as we talked about before—the underbite is where your bottom jaw is more forward-placed. It could be your jaw, or it could be your teeth. And then the overbite is actually the reverse—so you have more space on your upper teeth, or your upper jaw is more forward. So that is the difference: underbite like this, overbite like this. And then how each of them is treated: depending on the severity of each case, sometimes we are able to treat that using either Invisalign or traditional braces. In some cases, it might require surgical intervention as well, where we, you know—your jaw has to be surgically corrected, whether it's the top or the bottom. So those are some of the treatment options for correcting overbite and underbite. But I don't want to go too much into, like, you have to break your jaw or something, so, you know.
What causes the underbite and can it get worse if not handled?
So, what is underbite? It's essentially your lower jaw has grown more forward, or your upper jaw has not kept up with the growth of your bottom jaw. So it could be just your tooth positioning too. Sometimes the jaws are aligned well, but it’s your teeth that are positioned too far out, which kind of creates an underbite. Or it could actually be your jaw growth—your upper jaw growth not matching with the lower one, or your lower jaw had an overgrowth compared to what the upper one had. So those are some of the causes of an underbite. And like anything else, if it's not treated, it can get worse too. So you want to make sure as soon as it's diagnosed, you act on it—whether it’s a surgical treatment that is required, or it could be orthodontic with traditional braces. There are different appliances that can be used. Actually, the earlier we can spot it, the earlier it is diagnosed, the earlier intervention can correct an underbite much easier compared to going into adulthood. So as soon as it gets diagnosed, I would recommend going into a corrective action—whether it's a surgical treatment or traditional braces, there are different kinds of appliances that can be used to enhance upper jaw growth or to keep the lower jaw from accelerating its growth forward or to move the teeth back. So getting into corrective action as soon as you know the underbite is diagnosed is the best way to prevent it from getting worse and having more impacts on your overall bite and, you know, the look of your face as well.
Can Invisalign fix an underbite or are braces a better option?
The answer to that is—it depends on the case. So whether you're seeing an orthodontist or your general dentist is treating your case, they will evaluate the severity of the underbite. Based on that, Invisalign, yes, can correct up to a certain amount of underbites. So it depends on the severity of the bite. Based on that, Invisalign can correct it, traditional braces can correct it, or you might need a combination of the two, or you might even need some surgical approach as well. So it depends on the case—what the severity is and what is the best way to treat it.
Are there natural ways to fix an underbite without braces or surgery?
Unfortunately, there are not any natural ways to correct an underbite because, you know, either your jaw has already grown too far forward, so there's no natural way to bring it back—or if your teeth are aligned like that, which is creating the underbite, there's no natural way that we can bring it back. So the treatment options would be whether it's Invisalign that can fix it, or it's braces, or it's a combination or other orthodontic appliances that are available, or it's a surgical treatment that will fix it. So it's always with some kind of a treatment that you can fix that underbite.
How long would it take to fix an underbite with orthodontic treatment?
It's an average time—because every case, based on the severity, will vary. So in an average underbite case, when we are just treating with Invisalign or a combination of Invisalign and braces, or just braces, it can take anywhere from 1 year to 3 years of time.
Alright, awesome. I hope I was able to answer most of your questions regarding underbite and various treatments for underbite. If you have any other questions, please feel free to call us. Our number is (603) 634-9445. You can also visit our website, which is www.smilesbytheseanh.com, and we are happy to answer your questions and help you with your treatment.