What is a crossbite?

This patient has a normal relationship on his left side (your right) while there is a crossbite on the right side (your left).

A crossbite is whenever your lower back teeth sit on the outside of the upper back teeth (in the horizontal plane). This is the exact opposite of how your back teeth are supposed to sit against one another. Ideally, your upper back teeth, the molars and premolars, are supposed to sit on the outside of the lower ones. With a crossbite, this relationship is reversed and your lower back teeth stick out too far. Most crossbite conditions are the result of a lower jaw that is too large or positioned too far out as compared to the upper jaw.

You may not think having a crossbite is a big deal because it affects your back teeth.  However, having a crossbite can be detrimental to your oral health. The incorrect tooth relationship places lots of added stress onto your back teeth. This increased stress leads to tooth fracture, TMJ problems and failure of dental restorations with age. Fixing your crossbite relationship reduces the stress exerted onto your back teeth and can eliminate these complications. Continue reading to learn more about how you can fix your crossbite orthodontic condition:

Can you treat crossbite with clear aligners?

Crossbite conditions almost never qualify for clear aligner treatment. Moving back teeth require lots of forces and clear aligners are not capable of moving your back teeth a whole lot. This means that you must wear braces to fix your crossbite. In fact, it’s even difficult to fix most crossbites using braces. You may have to wear a face gear or even undergo jaw surgery to fix the most extreme crossbite conditions.

Occasionally, a crossbite case may improve to some extent using clear aligners. Yet, these are few and far between. When a crossbite does end up qualifying for clear aligner therapy, it must be treated with direct dentist supervision. You should never rely on at-home clear aligner programs like Smile Direct Club™ to correct an crossbite. In fact, at-home clear aligner programs are likely to worsen your crossbite condition, possibly causing damage to your back teeth and screwing up your bite relationship. Instead, choose a dentist-delivered clear aligner program like Invisalign® or braces to fix your crossbite Click on the link below to find a dentist near you to learn more about fixing your crossbite orthodontic condition:

FIND A DENTIST NEAR YOU TO FIX YOUR CROSSBITE