Bite Problems

Tips from Your Toronto Orthodontists

Drs. Willy Dayan and Pablo Kimos are committed to offering their patients state-of-the-art orthodontic care at their Toronto orthodontic practice. We believe that patient education is one of the most important aspects of your orthodontic treatment. This is why City Orthodontics has decided to provide our patients with oral hygiene tips to ensure they are taking care of their teeth both in and out of the office. Learn more about how to brush and floss properly with braces, take care of your retainer, and what foods to avoid throughout your treatment below.

During the retention phase, it is important to brush your retainer every time you brush your teeth as they can accumulate food particles and plaque. Once a day, you should soak your appliance in a glass of room-temperature tap water with a denture-cleaning tablet, such as Polident® or Efferdent®. This will help prevent plaque build-up and oral infections and will keep your appliance tasting better. Do not use hot water as it can distort the appliance.

Your teeth may be a little sore for the first week in braces, so we recommend sticking to a soft food diet until the discomfort subsides. While in braces, you can still eat just about anything although there are a few exceptions.  You should avoid hard foods, such as ice and pizza crust, as well as sticky foods, including licorice and caramels. These foods can damage wires and brackets. It is also important to minimize foods high in sugar content, like ice cream and cookies, and reduce sugary drinks to once a day. Please see our dedicated “Foods to Avoid” section for more information.

Introduction

When a person’s teeth or jaw structure do not fit together properly, orthodontic treatment may be necessary to straighten teeth and promote ideal function. These problems, often referred to as malocclusions (or bad bites), can cause speech difficulty, premature wear of the teeth and protective enamel and even increase the chance of injury to teeth and jaw joints, if left untreated.

Underbite

In an underbite, the lower jaw extends out, causing the lower front teeth to sit in front of the upper front teeth.

Protrusion

The appearance and function of your teeth are impacted by upper front teeth protrusion. It is characterized by the upper teeth extending too far forward or the lower teeth not extending far enough forward.

Crossbite

Normally the upper teeth overlap the lower ones. In a crossbite, the upper teeth sit inside the lower teeth, which may cause tooth stratification and misaligned jaw growth. Crossbites tend to get worse over time and therefore they are important to correct as soon as possible.

Openbite

Proper chewing is impacted by an openbite, in which the upper and lower front teeth do not overlap. Openbites may be caused by habits as thumb sucking or tongue thrusting.

Spacing

Spacing problems may be caused by missing teeth or because the teeth are proportionally too small for the size of the jaw bones where they are. Spacing is not only an unfavorable esthetic problem but it may lead to gum issues in the long run.

Crowding

Crowding occurs when teeth have insufficient room to erupt from the gum. Crowding can often be corrected by expansion, and many times, tooth removal can be avoided.

Overbite

In an overbite, the upper front teeth extend out over the lower front teeth, sometimes causing the lower front teeth to bite into the roof of the mouth.

Midlines

Dental midline that do not match are evident when the back bite does not fit and match appropriately. This may negatively impact jaw and proper dental function.