Occlusion is a term that is used to refer to the alignment of your teeth. Ideally, your teeth should fit easily within your mouth without any crowding or spacing issues. Also, none of your teeth should be rotated or twisted. The teeth of your upper jaw should slightly overlap the teeth of your lower jaw so that the pointed ridges of your molars fit into the groves of the opposite molar. Deviations from ideal occlusion are known as malocclusion. The type of deviation varies, but any type of misalignment can cause issues. Alignment of upper teeth is needed to prevent the cheeks and lips from being bitten, while alignment of lower teeth is needed to protect the tongue from being bitten. What Causes Malocclusion? Malocclusion is usually an inherited condition. This means it can be passed down from one generation to the next. There are some conditions or habits that may change the shape and structure of the jaw. These include: cleft lip and palate frequent use of a pacifier after the age of 3 prolonged use of bottle feeding in early childhood thumb sucking in early childhood injuries that result in the misalignment of the jaw tumors in the mouth or jaw abnormally shaped or impacted teeth poor dental care that results in improperly fitting dental fillings, crowns, or braces airway obstruction (mouth breathing), potentially caused by allergies or by enlarged adenoids or tonsils What Are the Symptoms of a Malocclusion? Depending on the classification of malocclusion, the symptoms of the disorder may be subtle or severe. Typical symptoms of malocclusion include: improper alignment of the teeth alteration in the appearance of the face frequent biting of the inner cheeks or tongue discomfort when chewing or biting speech problems, including the development of a lisp breathing through the mouth rather than the nose
