Common Orthodontic Issues

Crowding of the teeth

Patient started treatment at age 11. He loves his new smile.

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Open bite - Front teeth don't touch

Patient sucked her thumb as a young child. She started treatment at age 13. Now she can bite the lettuce out of a sandwich.

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Deep overbite - Lower front teeth bite into palate

This adult patient, age 25, required braces and jaw surgery to correct his severe overbite. His problem could have been corrected without surgery if he had been treated before he was a teenager.

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Missing lateral incisors

This patient's lateral incisors were congenitally missing. She had braces to move the teeth into their correct positions, then the missing teeth were replaced with bonded "Maryland" bridges.

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Underbite - Lower front teeth in front of upper teeth

Patient's underbite was causing her jaw joint discomfort and excessive wear patterns on her teeth. She started her treatment at age 32, and she now finds smiling and chewing much easier.

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Spacing of teeth

Patient was bothered by the spaces between his teeth. Braces closed the spaces and gave him an ideal bite. Special glued-in retainers help keep the spaces closed.

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Overjet - Protruding front teeth

At age ten, patient had a big overjet with the top teeth protruding beyond the bottom. She had two phases of treatment. The first helped her jaws to grow more harmoniously and the second aligned her teeth and bite.

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Non-braces treatment

Sometimes braces are not needed to get noticeable improvements in tooth alignment. This patient was first seen at age seven for crowding of the lower permanent teeth. A procedure was performed to reduce the width of the adjacent baby teeth and the permanent incisors aligned on their own.

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Phase-One

Patient's parents were concerned about both aesthetics and the health of the erupting permanent teeth when they brought him to the orthodontist at age eight. The lower front teeth were crowded and touching the palate, and the upper front teeth were extremely displaced from their normal positions. After a Phase-One treatment with an expander and partial braces, patient's appearance and dental function were vastly improved.