West Hollywood Dentist

One of the Most Trusted Holistic Dentists in Los Angeles, CA

7865 Santa Monica Blvd West Hollywood, CA 90046
(323) 654-2840

With A quarter century experience in dentistry, West Hollywood Holistic and Cosmetic Dentistry offers most dental treatments in one office. Call us today to schedule your free dental consultation.

What You Need to Know about Bite Adjustment

What You Need to Know about Bite Adjustment

Bite is something many people never think about. Even though it’s crucial to teeth and jaw health, an abnormal bite is often seen as a solely cosmetic issue rather than the critical health hazard it is. If you’re in West Hollywood and have an unnatural bite, here are some things you should know about it before getting it professionally addressed.

If you have an abnormal bite, it will disproportionately stress different teeth and areas of the mouth. Of course, these are meant to be used more uniformly, and uneven use over time can lead to disastrous consequences. The teeth that are affected will wear much faster than those that are not, they may become loosened, and this condition could even lead to temporomandibular joint disorders, also known as TMJs.

The other major health risk of an abnormal bite is gum disease. An abnormal bite may shift your teeth around in a way that creates large gaps in some areas and much smaller gaps in other areas. The larger gaps can become a breeding ground for harmful bacteria. These large gaps are very difficult to clean with home equipment, so they often lead to costly and painful dental conditions. In order to avoid these risks, it’s important to contact a bite adjustment dentist in West Hollywood as soon as possible.

There are a few treatment options for a bite adjustment. Unfortunately, an abnormal bite can evolve into a vicious cycle. It causes tooth surfaces to be uneven, which in turn causes the bite to be even more severely abnormal. That’s why one of the first line treatments for an abnormal bite is tooth reshaping. This is when your teeth are evened out manually by a dentist. Often, this is enough for the abnormal bite to go away. Because your teeth are suddenly uniform, you will naturally use them equally, which may eliminate the need for further treatment.

Another treatment option from a West Hollywood dentist on bite adjustment is a bite splint. This requires the patient to use a device to force the teeth to be separated equally. This is less invasive than tooth reshaping, but it takes awhile. It’s somewhat similar to using braces. They can be worn at night, during the day, or both. It can be costly initially because the device must be made for the patient specifically. Afterwards, the patient simply needs to use it regularly in order to see results. Depending on cosmetic impact, some patients may not be willing to wear it during the day, which may lessen its efficacy.

The final treatment option, and likely the most familiar, is using braces. Braces may be necessary for more severe cases. They work on the longest timeline out of all the options listed here, and they shift pressure on teeth to a more even distribution over time.

There’s no doubt that an abnormal bite can be frustrating and painful. The early it’s caught, the shorter the treatment duration. Of course, the right treatment will vary greatly by the patient. If you’re looking for a West Hollywood dentist who can help you with your bite adjustment, please give our office a call! We will gladly give you a consultation and go over all the options with you to get your bite on the right track!

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