As the jaws close, the upper and lower jaws are not aligned with each other mainly due to a difference in the jaw sizes, causing a malocclusion. The lower jaw is larger than the upper jaw so it sticks out further giving the facial profile a flat looking mid face shape with a lower jaw that looks larger than reality. Patients with underbites typically cannot speak clearly because their lower teeth are in front of the upper teeth and as a result, have to use their tongue to pronounce “S” and “th” sounds.
The treatment for a misaligned jaw often requires jaw surgery and hospitalization along with a couple of years of braces. The lower jaw is surgically cut down in size and the upper jaw is surgically widened and sometimes moved forward. There are a whole host of risks with jaw surgery. Most patients may be going to college or have a job and the last thing they want to do is loose a semester of school or take off time from work for jaw surgery and wear braces for a couple of years. There is a non-surgical alternative that has been highly successful with very little risk because of its non-invasive nature.
Adult patients that rejected jaw surgery have lived with the underbite but, their lower teeth tend to erupt higher, their faces tend to get shorter and the lower jaw looks larger because the bite is changing. Speaking problems, chewing problems, self-esteem issues and cross bite issues make them want to seek treatment but these patients clearly rejected the surgical option due to risks, loss of work or school and need a fast non-invasive alternative to surgical underbite treatment.
Most people have searched the Internet and have found a couple of non-surgical under bite treatment methods that have given them hope. As one patient said, “The surgical option seems so primitive, I waited 8 years for technology to catch up and I love that the results and it only took two weeks”.
Underbite Correction with Porcelain Veneers and Cosmetic Dentistry
Cosmetic dentistry is more of a “cosmetic camouflage” method because it does not correct the underbite. With cosmetic dentistry, veneers are usually placed on the upper teeth in order to make the upper jaw appear larger. The alignment with the large lower jaw is really unchanged. The bite is not actually corrected but the patient has an improved cosmetic effect because the small upper jaw looks a little larger. The profile view is still a problem because their facial profile is still unacceptable.
Jaw Surgery and Braces
This treatment is the dental industry standard and every patient gets this recommendation form just about every dentist they see. Many get the jaw surgery and are perfectly happy with the result while some are not. Even if the jaw surgery was not a total success, bite correction treatment can still resolve the problem using the non-invasive under bite non-surgical alternative.
VENLAY® Restorations & the Face Lift Dentistry® Method
Underbites push the lower jaw forward which amplifies the size of the lower jaw. This method uses jaw position imagery to locate the best possible functioning position for the lower jaw which reduces it’s large jaw size appearance. Facial profiles are greatly improved.
This treatment is a non- surgical under bite correction alternative that non-surgically corrects the under bite, improves the facial profile, increases the size appearance of the upper jaw and decreases the size appearance of the lower jaw.
The patient’s healthy teeth do not need to ground down and treatment only takes a couple of weeks which makes the Face Lift Dentistry® method a life transformation with very little risk in a short period of time.
The VENLAY® restorations are built over the biting surface of the teeth, the lower jaw moves back, the upper jaw appears larger and in a more forward position and the facial profile is improved. It is only offered in Santa Monica California but courses for dentists are in the planning stage.
