Going to an orthodontist will help you uncover the mysteries in your mouth. An expert will diagnose, prevent, and treat any malocclusions, and try to fix your bite. If you are familiar with orthodontics, you will find there are different types of malocclusions and we are sure you would have heard the most common ones – overbite and underbite. A type that is less familiar among people is a crossbite.
Read further to know what a crossbite is and how you can treat it with Invisalign or braces.
In an ideal world, your upper teeth overlap on the outside of your lower teeth when you close your jaws. When you have a crossbite, your upper teeth will remain inside of your lower teeth and you need to fix this before it is too late. When you have a crossbite, several or a single tooth can occur in front, back or at both positions of the mouth. Crossbites are bit difficult to understand and here are the two types of crossbites your Orthodontist in Blue Bell will want you to know about.
Anterior crossbite – it is front crossbite and it occurs when one or more front top teeth sit inside of the front bottom teeth.
Posterior crossbite – it is a back crossbite and it occurs when one or more of the upper teeth in the back sit inside the lower teeth. Usually, a posterior crossbite develops on one side of the mouth or can occur on both sides occasionally.
Causes of crossbites
Before you start with Invisalign in Waxhaw to treat your crossbite, we would like to tell you why you have crossbite in the first place. Here are the top reasons for crossbites in patients.
Genetics
The most common cause of a crossbite in children is the genetics. In this case, the crossbite cannot be prevented. The result is either a narrow upper jaw or larger lower jaw, inherited by both or any of the parents.
Delayed loss of baby teeth
Crossbite develops when the baby teeth are not falling down on their time and the permanent teeth have already started to erupt behind the baby teeth. As a result, the other teeth may shift to compensate, creating a misalignment called crossbite. Oral habits
Some oral habits, such as prolonged thumb sucking and use of pacifier also leads to crossbites. We do not realize but the pressure from the thumb or pacifier can push teeth out of alignment and distort bone, resulting in a narrow palate and crossbite.
Mouth Breathing
Another strong reason of crossbite in children is breathing through mouth. Chronic mouth breathing, which often happens during the night may lead to an elongated face and the jaws remain underdeveloped. It further leads to the development of crossbite.
Crossbites are a problem but an orthodontist in Blue Bell will help you resolve the issue. Talk to us to know more.