To each his own: face, smile, teeth, and mouth. When it comes those pearly whites, some are fine, but many need to be corrected, included those with misalignments.  Depending on your own facial features, you might have inherited poor jaw alignment, teeth that grow in badly, and childhood habits that can impact the shape of your mouth.

At the office of Carlton & Chastain Orthodontics, our highly skilled and well-trained team employs state-of-the-art techniques for correcting many diverse orthodontic problems — to leave you with a brand new smile you can be proud of! Although small gaps and crookedness are not major concerns, our team focuses on helping patients whose bite problems require comprehensive treatment.

Underbites: Among the several mouth problems that need attention are the underbite, most frequent among children.  When the lower jaw is set in a forward position, the lower teeth protrude to cover part of the upper jaw. In this case, problems such as rapid tooth wear occur, as well as enamel damage and stress on the joints of the jaw. If severe, the individual appears to have a “bulldog” appearance, and teeth may jut out over their upper lip. Braces are commonly recommended for this problem.

Overbites: With this condition, the upper jaw protrudes over the lower one, resulting in an upper row of teeth that covers the lower row. Most frequently seen, it is often due to having a small or narrow upper palate. Resulting problems are weak gums, enamel damage, and tooth wear.  Again, braces are the recommended form of treatment, as well as using a palate expander.

There is no end to the kind of bite problems that can affect children and adults alike,  including a crossbite, crowding of the teeth, a gap in the smile, deep and open bites, and protrusion (often called buck teeth). Braces have been proven effective at correcting not only the alignment of the teeth, but also the total alignment of the jaws.