A balanced bite is essential for a beautiful and functional smile. In technical terms, the way your teeth fit together is called occlusion, and any misaligned teeth can lead to malocclusion or a bad bite. Occlusion-based dentistry can provide effective treatment options to restore your bite, safeguarding oral health and supporting overall health by promoting proper nutrition.

What is occlusion-based dentistry?

Occlusion-based dentistry covers a wide range of potential treatments and interventions that seek to achieve harmonious interactions between the upper and lower teeth. There’s a proper way that these teeth should fit together, and any deviation can lead to a variety of health issues.

Treatment itself can target a variety of different aspects of your bite to achieve the desired results. That includes the teeth themselves, along with the jaw and the supporting muscle and nerve tissue. A holistic approach to occlusion ensures that you receive the best treatment plan for your unique smile.

The end goal of occlusion-based dentistry is to support your oral health by avoiding health risks associated with malocclusion. A bad bite is about much more than just how your smile looks. Malocclusion can also lead to temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ), tooth wear, and other serious long-term complications.

Occlusion-based dentistry includes both corrective and preventive measures. Ideally, potential bite issues will be identified early on if you keep up with routine dental appointments. From there, your dentist can plan minimally invasive interventions to safeguard your bite.

While prevention is the best course of action, there are still plenty of treatment options to deal with malocclusion, even after it has progressed. If you’ve noticed something seems off about your bite, it’s in your best interests to visit your trusted local dentist to find out more about orthodontic treatment options.

Benefits of a Balanced Bite

Relying on occlusion-based dentistry for a balanced bite provides a wide range of benefits. First, you’ll enjoy a beautiful, even smile that you won’t hesitate to share with the world. Having a restored smile can help boost your confidence, leaving you ready to take advantage of any social occasion, whether in your personal or professional life.

Malocclusion can severely damage your jaw, so occlusion-based dentistry improves function and reduces pain. Your jaw is an incredibly complex system that includes the temporomandibular joint and the many muscles and nerves. Malocclusion puts excess strain on those elements, leading to inflammation and potential injury. You can find lasting relief by treating the bite alignment issue behind it.

A bad bite also harms your teeth. When they don’t sit together properly, they can rub against each other in ways they weren’t meant to. Every time you open and close your mouth, certain teeth can grind against each other. This removes enamel over time, leaving them much more susceptible to increased sensitivity and tooth decay. Occlusion-based dentistry solves this problem to ensure lasting oral health.

If you have a bad bite, then you may not be able to chew as effectively as someone with perfectly aligned teeth. Chewing is the first step of digestion, breaking large pieces into manageable chunks with a higher surface area. Not only that, but saliva itself actually starts breaking down food as you chew. Skipping this step impacts nutrition absorption. Correcting your bad bite helps you get the full benefit of the food you eat.

Identifying and Treating Occlusion Issues

What exactly does malocclusion mean? It might not be immediately obvious when you should be concerned. While keeping up with routine dental appointments is the best way to watch out for malocclusion, there are also signs you can watch for at home.

First, you should know that malocclusion can develop at any age for a variety of reasons, which means that adults may still require orthodontic treatment. This is true for adults who never had treatment as children, but some cases can develop during adulthood regardless of whether you’ve had past treatment.

If you have frequent jaw pain or headaches, then a bad bite could be the cause. You can also inspect your bite visually, looking to see if your smile doesn’t show proper symmetry. Other signs, such as visible wear, are reasons to reach out for orthodontic assessment.

After your assessment, a variety of different treatment options could be implemented. Adult braces or clear aligners are some of the most common. However, other cases might call for splints or guards to adjust or protect your bite. In serious cases, surgical intervention may be necessary to resolve malocclusion.

Enjoying a Balanced Bite and a Beautiful Smile

If you’re concerned about the appearance, function, and health of your smile, then orthodontics in Virginia Beach could be just what you need. Come and see us at King Dental, and we’ll evaluate your smile and determine whether you need occlusion-based dentistry to restore and protect your bite. Schedule your appointment today.