Do I Have Bite Problems?

Ideally, your top and bottom set of teeth should fit together perfectly, with your top teeth fitted slightly over your bottom teeth. All of your teeth should line up. Your teeth should be straight and equally spaced.


Most of us, however, have some degree of misaligned teeth. If the misalignment is mild, your biting function and overall health may not be affected. However, significant teeth misalignment can contribute to mouth breathing and interfere with speaking and eating, can cause teeth to wear out early, and affect the overall appearance of your face. The dental term for a bite problem is malocclusion.

A poor bite may also force your jaws joints into unnatural positions, resulting in prolonged inflammation and deterioration of your temporomandibular (jaw) joint, known as Temoporomandibular Disorder (TMD). Common symptoms of TMD include frequent headache in the temple, cheeks, jaw joint, and ears. Please feel free to contact us for more information on how we can help you prevent or control the damage.

Most malocclusions are inherited.  Such conditions include differences in jaw size, poorly aligned jaws, crowded teeth, extra teeth, and missing teeth.  Childhood habits such as mouth breathing, tongue thrusting, reverse swallowing, and thumb sucking will also alter the development of your jaws. Allergies, asthma, and an open mouth posture also contribute to incorrect jaw development. Please visit our information page on how malocclusion and mouth breathing can cause headaches in children.

Some Of The Most Common Types Of Malocclusion Are:

  • Overcrowded Teeth — This often results from childhood underdevelopment of the upper jaw, resulting in a narrow upper jaw with insufficient space for adult teeth. If your child has crowding problems, we can help!
  • Over Bite — Top front teeth overlaps bottom front teeth
  • Under Bite — Bottom front teeth overlaps top front teeth.
  • Cross Bite — Some upper teeth rests inside of the lower teeth; a cross bite can affect the way the jaw grows
  • Open Bite — Top and bottom front teeth do not touch; often due to thumb sucking or mouth breathing
  • Unevenly-Spaced Teeth
  • Protruding Teeth
  • Missing Teeth
  • Speech Problems
  • Discomfort When Chewing Or Biting
  • Breathing Through The Mouth Rather Than The Nose

If you are not sure if you or your loved one is suffering from malocclusion, please feel free to call our Patient Relations Team for enquiries or arrange for a consultation session with our dentist.

Visit the DP Dental page for more information on the symptoms and solutions to

Temporomandibular Disorder-related headaches.



 

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Louisa Lee

Louisa Lee is a parallel entrepreneur whose her passion for learning and teaching has led her to where she is today. Her core business is DP Dental, a progressive dental practice which utilises many state-of-the-art technology to deliver digital integrative dentistry, which she has been managing for the past 12 years. They now have two practices - the flagship in Kovan at Heartland Mall and another in Orchard at Scotts Medical Center. She also Director of Progressive Practice, providing cutting-edge and high quality education and consultancy services.


She is also founder of TEDxDuxtonHill, which seeks to provide social entrepreneurs with a platform to showcase their Audacious Projects which seek to impact millions and potential investors whose ROI is the number of impacts created. She is particularly passionate about championing a (R)Evolution in Healthcare and Education. She set up a group on Facebook called “Inspiring Kids, Congruent Parenting” to showcase the inspiring work of kids around the world and provide parents with the foundation to bring up their children prepared for the future. A strong supporter of philanthropy and CSR, she sits on the advisory board of Imagine Cambodia Foundation to raise funds for the home housing orphans or children from disadvantaged background and she is also a B1G1 Champion, which is about embedding the habit of impact giving within her businesses. She is honoured that she has been invited to be a Board Member of Connected Women Singapore, a community dedicated to driving technology adoption by women-led businesses and start-ups.

This post was first published on DP Dental blog and has been reposted on Executive Lifestyle with the permission of the author.
Image credit: Shutterstock
Edited by Michelle Sarthou
Reference: Temoporomandibular Disorder (TMD)


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