Posted by
24
19 yrs ago
Our 2.5 year old son has an obvious overbite. Have not brought him to a dentist yet but wanted to see first if any other parents had a toddler with the same situation and what you did about it. Is he too young to have it treated? Or is there anything that can already be done at this early stage?
I imagine that his food is not being chewed properly although his appetite is not bad, meaning that it doesn't seem his overbite has affected his eating habits. Other than that, I'm not sure what the other negative aspects of an overbite are.
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vvv
19 yrs ago
My daughter has overbite too. 2 dentists have told me not to worry about it until her permanent teeth are out. If there is still overbite after the permanent teeth are out, you can always use braces.
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I had an overbite when i was young because i was a serious thumb sucker. I ended up with braces which did the trick till my wisdom teeth pushed them back out again a little. So if he's a thumb sucker get him to stop now before his permanent teeth come thru.
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24
19 yrs ago
Actually, i don't know why he has on overbite because he never sucked his thumb or even used a pacifier since birth. neither my husband nor I had overbites either. If we can't do anything until much later, I'm just wondering about how it will be detrimental to his chewing. i don't think his food is being properly chewed.
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bw
19 yrs ago
By overbite you mean his front teeth right ? If so then they don't take part in the chewing as much as the grinders/molars do. So I don't think you need to worry about his ability to chew unless you think he's not chewing his food properly. Why do you think so ? Is he having digestion problems ?
As for correcting it, a good time to see the doctor is during the transition phase, when the milk teeth are about to fall out and the permanent teeth are coming in. An experienced Pedodontist (child specialist among dentists just like a pediatrician) will be able to correct any problems during that phase by timely extraction and guiding the permanent teeth in the right place. This will avoid the need for braces if done correctly.
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24
19 yrs ago
Thanks bw. That is really informative. Don't laugh but my reason for thinking that he can't chew his food properly is that when I try to chew my food in an "overbite position" (meaning bottom teeth over top teeth), it's so difficult to properly chew the food. But appetite and digestion-wise, he seems to be fine. Although he is really skinny and light for his age.
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I'm confused. When you say the "bottom teeth over top teeth", do you mean the lower jaw sticks out? If so, that is known as an underbite. My nephew also has this problem. His parents were told that he would have to start wearing a retainer at age 7 and headgear for a few years. If they wait until he is older, he will have to have surgery to correct the condition. However, if they go the retainer/headgear route, he may still have to undergo surgery later as the lower jaw keeps growing.
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24
19 yrs ago
Pfffft - actually, you're right. I thought it was called overbite but it is underbite he has. His bottom teeth cover his top teeth which I guess makes his jaw jut out--but this is not as pronounced yet.
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ness
19 yrs ago
Why not take him along on your next dental appointment - all our dentists have always been happy to advise and would even do a pretend check of the kids teeth just to them familiar with the dentist... in fact they all have advised that being comfortable at the dentists is a really good idea before any real work has to be done so they are not so nervous.
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bw
19 yrs ago
24 when you try to chew in an underbite position you are keeping your teeth in a unnatural alignment and you won't be able to chew properly. But you don't know that it is the same with your son's teeth. His molars may be meeting alright and he may be chewing alright too...you could try checking by asking him to bite normally and checking how his molars are meeting.
But yes I second what ness mentioned. It's a great idea to introduce your son to a dentist where he won't do anything but "count his teeth" and make him generally comfortable. Too many kids meet a dentist for the first time when they need a painful procedure done and then associate a dentist with pain. Ideally they say the first visit should be around 3 years. Take him every year for a visit and let the doctor see how his teeth are shaping up.
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24
19 yrs ago
Thanks ness and bw for the helpful info and good tip about visiting the dentist.
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