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Dental malocclusion

Top Doctors
Top Doctors editorial
Top Doctors
Created by: Top Doctors editorial

The dental malocclusion is the misalignment of teeth (bite), ie the upper teeth do not fit properly with the lower, and usually hereditary. The patient has a size difference between jaws or between jaw and tooth. Other factors that may cause malocclusion are loss of teeth, thumb sucking or pacifier use. The main symptoms are causing deviant teeth, crowded or protruding, and cause trouble eating and speaking. Treatment of dental malocclusion involves the use of fixed or removable appliances to correct the alignment of the teeth and jaw position. In children and adolescents the extraction of some teeth may also be needed to make room for those who have yet to grow. Children's dental malocclusion is easier to correct than the adult because bone growth is still under development. By using such apparatus straighten teeth and the jaw moves. But in adulthood you can align teeth through orthodontics, but the position of the jaws can be changed only with orthognathic surgery.