Would you like to know how to fix bucked teeth for good?
Overbite, also known as buck teeth or mallocution, is a dental condition where the teeth of the upper mouth are misaligned to varying degrees.
At a glance, fixing bucked upper teeth might seem like primarily a cosmetic concern, but there are plenty of heart-related reasons why you should be looking into a treatment plan of you have bucked teeth. Bucked buck teeth can lead to various health issues, including frequent tooth infections, painful chewing and tension in the jaw. Other potential health issues patients experience as a result of bucked teeth include damage to surrounding teeth and gums, speech impediments and even trouble breathing. Besides, there is no reason why you should deny yourself a more attractive smile and appearance.
Luckily, there are several options for treating bucked teeth, and some of them might be much more cost-effective and simple than you have dared to imagine. Without further ado, let us look at both the causes and the solutions for protruding front teeth.
What causes buck teeth
As is often the case with physical conditions, there are many different factors that can contribute to creating producing teeth. In some cases, there might be a singular cause, or a number of factors might conspire to create a more severe case of bucked teeth. In this article, we look at what these different factors are.
Genetics
Unfortunately, genetics is one of the leading causes of buck teeth, as the the formation of our jaws and our teeth can be hereditary. In other words, your bucked teeth could very well be an unwanted family heirloom.
Thumb sucking and use of pacifiers
While some causes of bucked teeth are genetic or otherwise completely beyond your control, others are linked to certain behaviours, and this includes thumb sucking or using pacifiers past the age of 3-4 when your permanent teeth are appearing.
Many believe that thumb sucking leading to buck teeth is an old wive’s tale, but it is 100% correct. While it is perfectly normal for babies and toddlers to suck their thumb, children should be discouraged from continuing this behavior once their permanent teeth grow in, since the friction from thumb sucking can impact how the teeth grow and can cause protruding front teeth.
Pacifiers are another potential culprit that can lead to protruding teeth. The motion of sucking on a pacifier is very similar to the motion of sucking a thumb, which also means that the impact on growing teeth can be similarly harmful.
Tongue-thrusting
Tongue-thrusting is another behavior that might lead to bucked teeth in some cases. Tongue-thrusting is a movement of the tongue, where the tongue presses too far forward against the back of the front teeth, which can lead to a number of different mallocution issues, including overbite and open bite.
While tongue-thrusting, much like thumb sucking, is mostly found in children, the habit can sometimes carry on into adulthood where it can contribute to an even worse case of bucked and protruding teeth.
Missing, extra or impacted teeth
Yet another potential cause of protruding front teeth is other dental problems, most typically either missing, extra or impacted teeth.
If your teeth are either overly spaced out or crowded, it can cause the appearance or the condition of protruding teeth. Let us say, for example, that you are missing several teeth in your mouth – now the remaining teeth are able to shift positions since there are no other teeth keeping them in place and aligned. On the flip side, if you have too many teeth or some of your teeth have been impacted, they might be vying for space in your jaw and over time cause some of our teeth to protrude, since the jaw size simply cannot accommodate the amount of teeth.
Tumors or cysts
Finally, tumours or cysts might be to blame for your bucked teeth dental problem.
Dealing with cysts or tutors can be an incredibly frightening experience, and it is certainly no exception if one is growing in your jaw. Having a cyst or tumor in your jaw most often manifests through intense soreness, swelling or sores, either in the soft or the bony tissues around your mouth. If one happens to be growing in your upper jaw, it can cause a variety of dental pain and problems, including affecting your roots and jawbones in a way that pushes teeth forward and results in overbite.
Best solution for minor cases of buck teeth
Protruding teeth is no picnic, but fortunately there are treatment options available, and provided that yours is not a severe case of overbite, treatment is often both time-effective and affordable.
If your case of overbite is mild to moderate, the best way to address it is to get yourself a pair of clear aligners. Clear aligners from companies such as Candid, Byte, AlignerCo or Invisalign are a fast, effective and discreet way of addressing a variety of dental issues, including buck teeth.
To find out whether your buck teeth problem can be fixed with clear aligners you will have to either book an appointment with an Invisalign-trained orthodontist, or order an at-home impression kit from one of the lower-cost but still high-quality aligner companies, such as Byte or AlignerCo. Once either an orthodontist or ourself have made impressions of your teeth and sent them back to the clear aligner provider, they will be able to let you know whether your bucked front teeth problem can be a addressed with clear aligners.
Best for severe cases of bucked front teeth
If you are suffering from a more severe case of buck teeth, a clear aligner might not be sufficient to address the problem.
If the worst possible scenario applies to you and your protruding teeth are caused by a tumor causing either your lower teeth or your upper teeth to be pushed forwards, jaw surgery might be the only way to fix protruding teeth, or rather, jaw surgery might be the first necessary step you will have to take before an orthodontist is able to help you realign your teeth.
In most other severe cases, buck teeth can be fixed by wearing a pair of traditional or lingual braces for a period of time. How long is going to depend on how far out of alignment your teeth are, and the recommendations of your specific orthodontist or dentist.
How to fix buck teeth FAQ
How can I fix my buck teeth without braces?
Unless you are dealing with a particularly bad case of bucked front teeth, the best buck teeth treatment is getting yourself a pair of clear aligners.
Many people prefer clear aligners these days, because they are discreet, affordable and not nearly as uncomfortable to wear as traditional braces. Clear braces can fix both your upper and lower teeth, by slowly moving every tooth into a straight and perfectly aligned position.
How much does it cost to fix buck teeth?
The cost of fixing buck teeth may vary, and inevitably will. It depends on the severity of your buck teeth problem, as well as on the type of braces you choose to use. The cost of getting your bucked teeth fixed can range between a few hundred dollars and several thousand dollars.
Nowadays, it is most common to choose clear braces, because they are discreet, inexpensive and often able to shift each tooth into its new position as quickly or quicker than traditional braces.
What causes buck teeth?
Bucked teeth can be caused by a variety of different factors, including tongue-thrusting or excessive thumb or pacifier sucking past the age where your permanent teeth grow in. The sucking motion can cause the teeth in both your upper and lower most to be pushed forward and out of alignment.
Bucked teeth can also sometimes be caused by other underlying dental problems, including too few, badly impacted or crowded teeth. If you are missing several teeth, the teeth that you do have are able to move around in your jaw and might essentially migrate forward, and if you have too many teeth for your jaw size to accommodate them all, it follows that they will need to push each other forward.
Another common cause is genetics, which of course you have no personal control over.
How long does it take to fix buck teeth?
Fixing bucked teeth can take anywhere from a few months to a close to two years. The exact timeframe of your bucked teeth treatment is going to depend on the severity of your problems.
Closing thoughts on fixing protruding teeth
A lot of people suffer from overbite – in fact, bucked teeth is a much more common dental health problem than most people realize.
Fortunately, there are effective treatment options available. In the worst cases, patients may need to get jaw surgery before an orthodontist is able to help them address their teeth misalignment issues, but in most cases, bucked teeth is imminently treatable.
Most people today prefer clear braces, because they are fast, discreet, effective and low cost when compared to their traditional braces counterparts. There are many great yet inexpensive clear aligner providers out there – our top recommendations include AlignerCo, Byte and Candid.