Open bite treatment
| If you have teeth like this and keep accidentally spitting on people while talking, then please call us today at 281-249-9999! |
The Case of The Month " May 2018"
When the top teeth don't touch the bottom ones, then we have an open bite case. The easiest way to check if you have an open bite or not is to try to hold a piece of paper with your front teeth.
What causes an open bite?
Usually, teeth have the tendency to touch each other. If an open bite exists, that means something is interfering between the top and bottom teeth preventing them from the meeting.
The most common cause in children is thumb sucking and in an adult is tongue thrust. Also, other bad habits might contribute to open bites such as pen biting and pipe smoking.
What are the consequences of an open bite?
Besides the non-cosmetic appearance, an open bite can greatly affect how you pronounce certain letters such as "t,z, and th".
Certain cases require speech therapy in conjunction with braces.
How to treat an open bite?
Treating an open bite has two folds:
1- Elimination of the cause; no more thumb sucking or tongue thrust.
2- Putting braces to move teeth to their proper position.
How to maintain my corrected open bite?
The secret is to keep your tongue away but using special small tongue spikes.
Here is a testimonial from a patient who got braces before.
It is very important to wear your retainers and eliminate any habits that can contribute to bringing back your open bite.
Can we correct this case without surgery?
We posted this start case almost 3 years ago and we have good news for you. Dr. Kanaan corrected the open bite without surgery using clear braces and two mini-implants “TADs”.
The key here is to use light force so the teeth, gum, and bone can move at the same rate. We left two tongue spikes to prevent any possibility of tongue thrusting.
