Ideally, your upper and lower teeth should come together properly to assist in proper biting and chewing. This is known as occlusion. An occlusal adjustment procedure or occlusal bite adjustment is a dental procedure that is performed to remove any forms of interference that keep your teeth from coming together properly. The imperfect positioning of the teeth when the jaws are closed is thus known as malocclusion.
Tiny interferences can come in the form of fillings, prostheses like crowns and bridges, or general wear and tear of the teeth’ surface. At Prime Dentistry, we offer brilliant dental services to realign your occlusion or bite so that your jaws can close in their anatomically correct position.
WHAT ARE SOME SIDE EFFECTS OF MALOCCLUSION?
Malocclusion is often accompanied by a handful of acute dental side effects that can affect your oral as well as general health facets. Interferences from a malocclusion can prevent your jaw from fully sliding in its anatomically correct position, causing the muscles in your jaw and neck to tense. This can result in a number of dangerous symptoms such as headaches, neckaches, and tooth pain.
Many patients have also exhibited signs of nocturnal teeth grinding, clenching, or gnashing. As a result, loss of tooth structure and receding gums can be a common outcome of this cynical dental pattern. Consequently, this may also result in temporomandibular joint (TMJ) issues, in cases where the interferences are left untreated. This is why it is important for you to visit our dental professionals at the earliest signs that something might not be right with your bite.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM AN OCCLUSAL ADJUSTMENT PROCEDURE?
The process of occlusal bite adjustment allows the even distribution of pressure along the biting surfaces of your teeth. Hence, through occlusal adjustment, our team at Prime Dentistry in Philadelphia is able to spread out the bite pressure uniformly and regularly over the entire arch.
At Prime Dentistry, the leading dental clinic in restorative dentistry, we make use of some methods to adjust your bite, namely:
- Bite splint therapy: The bite splint therapy makes use of the splint to improve the bite and jaw positions so that it can move smoothly, while also relieving pain. This technique is typically used as the first line of action in a multi-step procedure, especially when a major dental treatment like orthodontics is to be used for correcting jaw position.
- Braces: For uneven gapped teeth, crowding, or overlapping teeth, dental braces are often offered by our dental professionals to improve the alignment of the teeth and eventually correcting the occlusal bite of your dentition.
- Filling replacement: Worn-out or generally old fillings can often cause interferences in your bite and occlusion. These damaged fillings are simply replaced and the bite is corrected.
- Teeth replacement: Damaged or injured teeth that hamper the proper alignment and bite occlusion are worked upon. For those teeth that simply cannot be positioned properly, in the worst-case scenarios, are removed. These extracted teeth are then replaced with the help of any of the tooth replacement options we offer such as implants, crowns, and bridges.
- Selective occlusal adjustment: Occlusal adjustment, also known as occlusal equilibration is a method of selective grinding of tooth surfaces to help improve tooth contact patterns and to remove lateral interference. It also helps improve bite and associated masticatory muscle response.
Through a simple adjustment, we can eliminate the irregular distribution of pressure on all portions of your teeth altogether and improve the occlusal bite. Our state-of-the-art equipment helps locate issues accurately and our high-tech echnology allows us to visualize the teeth’ positions and help us pinpoint the irregularities with much precision. This is why Prime Dentistry has been one of the leading and most reliable dental clinics in North-East Philadelphia for many decades.
If you’ve been experiencing issues with your bite or cannot seem to figure out why your jaws are often strained, it may be time for a thorough checkup with our expert team of dental professionals.
