An open bite occurs when your upper teeth no longer touch your lower teeth. This most often occurs near the front of your mouth, causing an anterior open bite, although it may occur in the back of the mouth as well. This condition is malocclusion, which means the teeth are not properly aligned when your mouth is closed. There are several reasons why this may occur in adults, including missing or shifting teeth, facial trauma, tumors in the jaw or mouth areas, or the presence of extra teeth. If you struggle with an open bite, your dentist in Bellbrook, OH, has solutions.

How Do I Know Whether I Have an Open Bite?

An open bite is easy to recognize because it impedes your quality of life. You’ll have trouble biting into a sandwich, and you may develop a speech impediment. If left untreated, your open bite will begin to affect your appearance as well. This happens when your facial structure begins to change as a result of the misalignment between the teeth and the lower jaw. An open bite can make you appear much older than you are.

What Can Be Done for an Open Bite?

There are several ways your dentist may correct your open bite. Treatments include:

• Braces
• Aligners
• Dental Implants
• Surgery
• Veneers

When an open bite occurs in adult patients, surgery is usually required to realign the teeth. This may mean extracting adult teeth that have shifted and replacing them with dentures or dental implants to correct the problem.

Is an Open Bite Really That Serious?

It may not seem serious at the time your open bite first occurs, but as time goes by, the condition will only worsen. It will become more difficult to eat the foods you enjoy, and you may put yourself at greater risk of choking because you’re unable to bite foods, such as spaghetti or bacon strips, into small, manageable pieces for easy digestion. Your speech may change as well, and you may find it difficult to clearly pronounce words with ‘S’.

When you’re ready to fix an open bite in Bellbrook, OH, contact Bellbrook Family Dentistry to schedule an appointment. Our friendly and professional staff has a solution that will work for you.