How to understand malocclusion? Things to know before orthodontics!

01. How to understand malocclusion?

"Bite" can be generally understood as: the relative position relationship of the upper and lower teeth when the mouth is closed in a normal state; and a normal bite means that the jaw is in a very stable state when chewing quietly.

The teeth in our mouths fit together like a mortar and pestle, and they work together to chew properly. However, the teeth cannot be arranged evenly like gears, so there are small deviations under normal circumstances. What we are going to talk about today is the harmful problem of malocclusion.

02.What causes malocclusion?

#1. Premature tooth loss: Insufficient space, resulting in crowding and misalignment.

#2. Bad habits: Habitual finger sucking, tongue licking, lip biting, chewing objects, protruding jaw, bad swallowing habits, unilateral chewing habits, etc. can cause various kinds of malocclusion.

#3. Supernumerary teeth: Supernumerary teeth can cause morphological and functional disorders of the dental and maxillofacial system.

#4. Congenital missing teeth: mostly due to developmental and embryonic reasons. The missing third molars are mostly due to germline degeneration.

#5. Retained deciduous teeth: When some deciduous teeth do not fall out within the prescribed time, it is called retained deciduous teeth, which may cause the eruption of the successor permanent teeth to be blocked and become buried, or to erupt misplaced.

#6. Insufficient wear of deciduous canines: The food children eat is too soft, so some deciduous canines are not worn as much as other teeth. As a result, they are higher than the occlusal surface of the dental arch, resulting in premature contact, causing forward or lateral movement, and forming a crossbite.

Among the above reasons, it is not difficult to see that the cause of malocclusion is mostly due to the neglect of correcting bad habits and timely handling of oral problems during the children's growth stage. Here we also remind parents and friends to pay attention to children's oral health problems.

03. Multiple hazards of malocclusion

1. Chewing dysfunction

Teeth are responsible for cutting and grinding food. People with malocclusion have poor fit between the upper and lower teeth, and often swallow food without grinding it completely. Large pieces of food will increase the load on the gastrointestinal organs and affect digestion and absorption.

2. Prone to tooth decay

Uneven teeth make it easy for food residues to accumulate between overlapping teeth. Once food residues enter these hidden cleaning dead corners, it is difficult to brush them out, which greatly increases the incidence of tooth decay and even causes bad breath. Basically, uneven teeth require more time to clean teeth.

3. Cause periodontal disease

(1) Food residues get stuck between teeth, making them difficult to clean and causing gingivitis or even periodontitis.

(2) For people who have difficulty closing their mouth due to malocclusion, their gums are exposed to air for a long time, which can easily cause dry gums and gingivitis.

(3) People with severe protruding teeth often have their upper incisors protrude too far forward, causing their lower incisors to bite on the gums inside the upper incisors. Over time, this can cause the gums on the lingual side of the upper incisors to atrophy.

(4) The teeth are misaligned, with one tooth inside and one outside. The bite force is excessively concentrated on certain teeth, causing traumatic bite to these teeth. The traumatic bite force is transmitted to the periodontal tissue, often causing gum atrophy, alveolar bone loss and other periodontal disease symptoms.

4. Pronunciation learning disabilities

The type and degree of malocclusion may affect the correctness of pronunciation, especially some pronunciations that require the assistance of teeth. If the upper front teeth are too protruding and the lower lip is retracted, it will be impossible to pronounce correctly, and there may even be air leakage and saliva spraying.

5. Hinder the normal development of the jaw

Malocclusion often causes uneven bite force on the left and right sides. In this case, most people subconsciously use the side that is better at chewing to eat, which may affect the normal development of the jaw in the long run.

6. It is easy to cause the front teeth to break

The more protruding incisors or the teeth that are arranged outside the normal dentition are often hit earlier in the trauma collision. Therefore, the proportion of teeth with this type of malocclusion falling or breaking due to trauma is relatively high.

7. Oral mucosa is easily injured

The oral mucosa around teeth that protrude forward or are arranged outside the normal alveolar ridge is also more likely to be injured due to traumatic damage.

8. Cause psychological disorders

According to a survey, one of the main reasons why some students are bullied in school is "physical characteristics", with buck teeth, obesity and other unsightly appearances being the most common. Psychological barriers caused by pronunciation learning disabilities and slurred speech, whether from the ridicule and contempt of others or from one's own inferiority, dissatisfaction and anxiety, will all cause morbid depression or emotional tension, and in severe cases, even avoidance, hatred or aggressive behavior.

Malocclusion may seem like a minor problem and is common. Some people even think it only affects the appearance, but it is actually a potential hidden danger that should be eliminated as much as possible. The way to eliminate it is through orthodontics, which can move the teeth to the appropriate position, adjust the bite relationship, and restore the normal bite. This is left to our orthodontists.