Fixing malocclusions with Invisalign in St.John’s Wood

At Aura Dental we know that looking your best will help you feel your best and give you the confidence to step out into the world with a smile that wins over hearts and minds. Orthodontics has been shown to transform a shy hidden smile into a confident glowing one. While many people know about the amazing effects and benefits of the Invisalign orthodontic treatment for discreetly straightening teeth, some of you may not know that we can use this therapy to treat malocclusions too. By correcting the bite, we not only fix the teeth but can also subtly change the facial structure with Invisalign in St. John’s Wood.

What are malocclusions?

To put it simply, malocclusions are problems with the bite of your mouth. Ideally, the top and bottom rows of teeth should sit neatly on top of one another without any gaps, but often this is not the case, there are many different types of bite issues that people have:

Overbite: This is when the front of the top row of teeth sit slightly over the bottom row, many people have a mild case of overbite which doesn’t really affect how the face looks, but in more rare cases this can be quite severe, with the bottom jaw receding much further back than it should, causing breathing issues and possibly elongated front teeth. It is important to note that while Invisalign in St. John’s Wood can help correct slight overbite issues, there more severe cases will need more intensive orthodontics.

Underbite: the opposite to overbite, an underbite is when the bottom row of teeth jut forward slightly and sit further out than the top row of teeth causing the tops teeth to fall behind the bottom. This causes a very awkward smile for those suffering from this malocclusion. People with severe underbites will have a forward jutting jaw which is very apparent both from the side profile and the front and may need more intensive orthodontic treatment for a while before Invisalign can be implemented.

Openbite: this occurs when someone bites down and there are still gaps between the top and bottom rows of teeth, this occurs when the rows of teeth slant outward slightly and require orthodontics to pull them back.

Cross bite: while the other issues we have explained are all vertical, a cross bite occurs when there are issues laterally with the teeth, when the molars especially slant either more towards the cheeks or the tongue instead of upwards as they should.

How can Invisalign treat malocclusions?

While shifting teeth into alignment is relatively straight forward, moving the bite takes a more advanced knowledge but with Invisalign in St. John’s Wood our experienced dentists can place small tooth-coloured buttons on your teeth that the aligners can interact with, thus applying more pressure to the teeth to push them into position and fixing more malocclusion cases than was ever before possible with this treatment. It may take a little more time to correct these issues but you will still be able to enjoy the benefit of an invisible treatment plan that Invisalign is so famous for and who knows, as technology advances, this may one day be the only thing people need to fix any orthodontic problem.