Do You Know What Is A Deep Bite?

Teeth are an indispensable part of your body. They are vital for your overall health.

Bad bite or traumatic bite is the result of misalignment of the teeth and jaws. Deep bite is one of the most common malocclusion seen in children as well as adults.

Genetics, teeth crowding, failure of dental treatment or worn or decayed teeth or missing back teeth could also be contributing factors in these dental issues. Habits such as thumb sucking, clenching or grinding teeth (bruxism) can also contribute to such problems.

There is no science as such with the natural process of tooth eruption, so malocclusions, bad bites and deep overbites are common.

An ideal bite has a degree of overlap that would be about one or two millimeters and is not regarded as a malocclusion.

A deep bite occurs when the upper front teeth almost completely cover/overlap/bite too deeply with lower front teeth. This does not only look bad but also is detrimental to health of teeth and jaw joints.

Missing back teeth in an adult can exacerbate a deep bite leading to collapse of the bite and lower face, giving a more aged appearance.

It also has an impact on facial aesthetics, wearing of your back teeth, reducing the facial height and giving you an aged appearance.

Although it may appear as merely an aesthetic issue but it is far more serious. It can lead to significant damage to the teeth and gums as well as headaches and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders.

Unfavorable sequel of this malocclusion predisposes a patient to periodontal/gum involvement, abnormal function, improper mastication, excessive trauma, grinding and temporomandibular joint disturbances.

When a bite is deep, the chin generally is recessive or pushed back by the upper teeth towards the temporomandibular joint/jaw joint.

This problem can be corrected by the use of dental braces that will move the upper front teeth forward and change the growth of the upper or lower jaws, or both.

Jaw pain, tooth wear, facial pain, the aging face, recessed chin and malocclusion or bad bite are all interrelated.

Deep overbites cause the faces to look short and the chins to look small. Deep bite causes the facial profiles to have the appearance of a recessive chin.

Bite correction  improves the quality of life. Most patients do not realize that the shape of their face or jaw is being determined by their bad bite or malocclusion.

FEATURES OF DEEP BITE

Initially one can notice wear of the lower front teeth seen as a flattening of the surface, thin fracture lines in the front teeth along with accumulation of plaque/calculus deposits and bleeding of gums mainly in the lower front teeth.

As the upper teeth totally cover the lower teeth, it also affects the function of your teeth especially when chewing food.

Deep Bite can negatively impact jaw and teeth function. Chewing and biting can be difficult because the jaw cannot function normally and teeth often are difficult to clean.

If left to progress, the top edge of the lower teeth will starting wearing very extensively and sometimes even upper teeth wear, resulting in generalized sensitivity, chipping off of teeth, and regular bleeding of gums while brushing.

This can be a very serious issue and often leads to loss of the lower front teeth. Bad breath may be noticed as a side effect of the gum disease and deposits in the teeth.

As it advances, it causes excessive wear to your teeth presenting as generalized sensitivity in all teeth and pain in severely affected teeth, gum recession and pain in jaw joints and muscles.

TREATMENT OF DEEP BITE

The dentists in dental clinics in Delhi and dental clinics in India have trained themselves to keep abreast with the latest techniques of dentistry and therefore, treating a deep bite.

A deep bite even in adults can be corrected these days with one of the many effective restorative treatment options. To treat deep bite following treatments can be employed-

Deep bite when detected at a younger age, before attrition of the teeth has occurred; it can be corrected using braces.

Braces are the most preferable and common treatment used to cure deep bite. The prerequisite to correct deep bite is requirement of large force to correct bite alignment.

This can be done easily through braces as they exert large force to correct poor angulation of upper and lower teeth.

Treatment involves raising the bite to establish a correct bite by placing crowns on the behind teeth and replacing any missing teeth so that the chewing forces are distributed equally.

Dentists in Delhi are routinely treating such cases to correct the alignment and bite of your teeth.

If front teeth are already damaged or worn, crowns or laminates may be placed for esthetics. For gum treatment, gum cleaning or gum surgery may be required.

Deep bite treatment will dramatically enhance your dental health and appearance of your smile and face.

Night guard can be given as a preventive therapy for protection of the teeth. It acts as cushion between your upper and lower teeth preventing any damage that can occur.

Dentists in India are providing custom made night guards for patients as a preventive measure for such problems.

Though it does not treat, it significantly delays the progress of the disease and prevents jaw pain and muscle pain from occurring.

Taking proper care, ensuring good dental hygiene and keeping track of oral habits like thumb sucking, tongue thrusting etc. from early age is one of the basic ways to prevent majority of dental disorders.

Like many other diseases/dental conditions, deep bite is a silent disease and it results in a series of small seemingly insignificant changes which occur slowly over a period of time resulting in irreversible changes recognized first as an all of a sudden generalized sensitivity when most of the damage has already occurred.

Posted by- Dr Shriya