Uneven jaws can cause many problems, and based on their type and severity, you might experience difficulty chewing, smiling, breathing, and speaking. Moreover, jaw asymmetry can lead to an improper bite, jaw pain, and consequently a lot of oral health problems. The good news is that there are a variety of treatment options to help with healthy jaw alignment.
Below, we offer an overview of what orthodontists do to ensure you have a proper bite.
The Importance of Correct Jaw Alignment
A misaligned jaw will impact different aspects of your life. Here are a few reasons that reveal why an uneven jaw treatment is crucial.
Better bite
When your jaw is aligned and symmetrical, you can be enabled to chew properly. Food will be easier to swallow if your biting and chewing functions are optimal.
Improved oral health
Orthodontic treatment for a misaligned jaw can improve your overall oral health by preventing tooth sensitivity, uneven tooth wear, muscle spasms, jaw pain, and other dental issues.
Proper pronunciation
Fixing jaw alignment has a direct impact on speech and correct pronunciation, allowing better communication and boosting self-confidence.
Better overall health
The uneven jaw can easily cause migraines, headaches, or even neck and shoulder pain. Proper alignment helps you get rid of these painful issues.
Appearance
Jaw alignment can improve your facial appearance, which can boost your confidence.
Symptoms of an Uneven or Misaligned Jaw
- Drooling
- Neck, back, or shoulder discomfort
- The pain around the temple and jaw point
- Excessive tightness of the jaw
- Popping in the ear or tinnitus
- Clicking chew
- Having trouble chewing food and speaking
Jaw Alignment Without Surgery
The orthodontic solution for a misaligned jaw varies according to the severity and its presentation. Your orthodontist may recommend braces to correct a misaligned jaw.
Braces
Correct your bite by using the over-pressure in the brackets attached to your teeth.
Headgear Braces
Traditional braces are used to fix crooked teeth, a crooked jaw, and a misaligned jaw. They should take over in between 1 and 3 years.
If you need severe treatment for jaw alignment, headgear braces will assist you in getting better results. They are fixed by straps outside of the mouth around your head to correct severe underbite & overbite problems and should usually be worn for 12 to 14 hours per day.
Upper Jaw Expanders
If your lower jaw protrudes and your lower teeth are in front of your upper teeth, jaw expanders will most likely be required to correct an underbite. Jaw expanders are used to widen the upper jaw and usually need to be taken for one year. These expanders are a type of wireframe device designed to fit across your upper palate.
Reverse-pull face masks, other way for Jaw Alignment
Sometimes, a better way to correct underbite is to use pull face masks. Like headgear braces, they should be worn overnight.
Metal braces
Metal braces are fitted to the upper back teeth and attached to the face mask. Then your face mask is wrapped around your head to pull back your upper jaw.
Jaw Wiring
One other option for misaligned jaw treatment is to use jaw wiring. Jaw wiring looks like a cast that fixes the jaw in its proper position. Jaw wiring is usually used when a jaw has been fractured. By jaw wiring, you can only eat or drink liquid food.
Surgical Options for a Misaligned Jaw
Maxillary and Mandibular Osteotomy
Maxillary osteotomy is a kind of jaw alignment surgery that involves cutting the upper jaw. An incision in the upper jaw allows the surgeon to break your lower jaw and the back of your mouth in a controlled manner.
Genioplasty
Another surgical option for correcting jaw alignment is genioplasty. Genioplasty is more commonly known as cosmetic surgery that involves reshaping the chin to improve facial harmony. A surgeon will separate the chin bone from the jaw, reposition them, and make the required adjustment.
Can Braces Correct Jaw Alignment?
The best way to correct severe dental issues is to use braces. Dental issues include overcrowding, misalignment, spacing, overbite, and underbite. People like braces because they produce both aesthetic and non-aesthetic changes by aligning each tooth over another.
In underbite cases, the lower jaw extends outward due to misaligned teeth. In overbite cases, the chin looks weak, and the lips usually protrude from the face in an unflattering and harsh manner. Jaw alignment braces can correct both cases and bring the jaw back into its favorable position. So, in addition to improving the overall facial appearance, it can also help with overbite and underbite issues.
However, it’s crucial to maintain your treatment once the braces are off. Generally, braces should be worn from six months to three years, depending on the patient’s teeth condition.
Braces and Jaw Alignment
The main question is, “Can braces enhance the jawline?”
Overall, when the teeth are misaligned, overcrowded, or if there is a bite imbalance, the best effective orthodontic solution to fix the issue is to use braces.
Here are the impacts of braces on the jawline:
Braces Can Help Improve Your Jawline
When the jaw is imbalanced, overbite, crossbite, and underbite will occur.
- In an underbite, the lower jaw will extend outward.
- In crossbite, the lower jaw leans more to the left or right, rather than directly below the upper teeth.
- In an overbite, the upper arch and teeth will extend forward.
In all three cases, braces can be the best solution for misaligned jaw treatment.
Braces Can Create a Sculpted Jawline
In an overbite or underbite, the top or bottom jaw will protrude. In these cases, people are usually too scared to smile because they are embarrassed about their appearance. Braces improve the sculpted jawline shape by straightening the teeth and jawline. So that not only boosts their confidence but also improves their overall health.
Braces Can Improve Facial Symmetry
Uneven or crowded teeth cause facial asymmetry. Additionally, a misaligned jaw can cause one side of your face to be lower than the other side, or it may cause uneven lips when your mouth is closed. Once you begin wearing braces, you will notice your face looks more symmetrical and attractive because of the shifting of your teeth and, consequently, changing facial features.
Braces Can Help Your Face Look More Natural.
Orthodontic problems like overbite and underbite make you unable to close your mouth properly. These visual problems with your lips and jawline give you an unnatural look. Moreover, they easily cause a dry mouth and, consequently, bad breath and gum disease.
Braces give your face a more natural, aesthetically pleasing appearance by repositioning teeth and correcting jaw alignment.
Braces Can Give You a Better Bite
With overbite and underbite issues (malocclusion), the top and bottom teeth cannot touch each other correctly, which causes bad bites, tooth wear and breakage, and painful TMJ disorder.
Braces correct your bite, giving you a proper occlusion and eliminating the possibility of tooth damage and other problems related to malocclusion. Braces also improve the appearance of your face by repositioning the jawline.
Can Invisalign straighten your teeth?
Invisalign jaw alignment is an effective treatment for misaligned teeth and, as a result, an uneven jaw. It’s a great option for those who don’t want to wear metal braces but need to straighten their teeth.
Invisalign aligners consist of a series of clear, removable, and invisible plastic aligners that gradually straighten your teeth. Because they are removable, you can take them out when eating, brushing, or for particular occasions like weddings or job interviews.
The function of Invisalign
When you want to correct jaw alignment by wearing Invisalign, you will need to wear them for around 20 to 22 hours per day. The custom-made aligners work slowly by applying pressure to the problematic areas that need to be fixed or repositioned.
What Orthodontic Problems Can Invisalign Treat?
Some of the most common problems that can be fixed by Invisalign are crooked teeth, crossbites, open bites, overbites, and underbites. Additionally, it can close gaps in your teeth.
What Orthodontic Issues Can Not Be Fixed by Invisalign?
While Invisalign can treat many orthodontic problems, some issues cannot be fixed, like a crooked tooth that needs to be rotated to be straightened. While Invisalign can fix small gaps between the teeth, it may be ineffective in the treatment of a large gaps between the teeth.
Invisalign is also incapable of changing the position of a tooth in the jawline or correcting a midline discrepancy greater than 2 mm.
What Do Orthodontists Do?
One service that orthodontists offers is teeth straightening devices and jaw alignment without surgery, which includes:
- Ceramic, lingual, or metal braces that combine brackets with metal braces. They are different styles.
- Clear, custom-made, and removable dental aligners that sit directly on the teeth to straighten them.
- Retainers that hold teeth in their correct positions after dental aligner treatment.
Why is orthodontics important?
Orthodontic treatment can help with both tooth and jaw alignment issues. In addition to aesthetic concerns, misaligned jaws or teeth issues may result in health problems like tooth injury, tooth decay, jawbone and joint problems, difficulty in speaking, eating, etc. Moreover, misaligned jaws / teeth can easily lead to risky diseases like diabetes, heart disease, vascular problems, strokes, dementia, or even some types of cancer.
Start your path to a more confident smile
Teeth straightening is easy and affordable in York Orthodontics. Here, at York, we will offer various dental jaw alignment services, so contact us if you need help or have questions. We will be happy to respond to all questions and concerns!