What is Maloccusion? Does it affect my oral health?
The term ‘Malocclusion’ means teeth not meeting correctly when they close together, and YES- it can lead to oral health complication if left untreated.
What CAUSES malocclusion?
Malocclusion is usually an inherited condition, however, habits and circumstances can also result in malocclusion.
These habits and circumstances may include frequent use of dummy/pacifier and thumb-sucking after age 3, mouth breathing as a result of underlying ENT issues or jaw injuries resulting in jaw misalignment.
Malocclusion can present as crowded teeth, spacing issues, missing and impacted teeth, and problems with the shape or size of jaw or teeth.
What are the EFFECTS of malocclusion?
Left untreated, malocclusion can cause teeth to wear out, break or collapse faster.
Difficulty in cleaning crowded, or overlapped teeth can lead to painful gum problems and tooth decay.
Jaw muscles and joint can become strained/tense from the misalignment, resulting in pain and headaches.
How do you TREAT maloccusion?
Early detection is key to preventing the severity of the condition, but also the time and amount of treatment required to correct the problem.
Braces or Invisalign is usually the treatment for correcting Malocclusion. An initial consultation is required to assess the condition and then a plan for treatment.
Curious how you would like with straighter teeth? Follow this link to see how you would look with straighter teeth:
