Underbite

Hi A.,

My oldest son, now 3.5, has an under-bite that probably won't correct itself. My youngest son, now almost 2, had one that corrected itself. Unless it's significant, you probably won't be able to tell which way it will go at 17-mo's. And even if it turns out that it doesn't correct itself, there is nothing that the dentist can do about it until the child gets older. Hopefully we'll be able to correct my son's with braces. But if not, we'll probably be looking at surgery to realign the jaw. Although I hope that we don't have to go down that path, it is not worth worrying about now - be proactive, but take it as it comes and hope for the best! Good luck!

A., my four year old son has the same problem. He sees a dentist and has seen the orthodontist. The ortho said that when his teeth first started growing in his brain told him to close his mouth backwards due to the awkward feeling of the new teeth. His top two front teeth grew slightly pointed inward and he juts his lower jaw out to accomodate. The ortho said that he will see him again when he is six, but there is a good chance that the permanent teeth will grow in correctly and he will re-align his jaw him self. So, everything can change once the permanent teeth start coming in.

Hi A.,
Your daughter still has teeth that will be erupting, if she is 17 months old, she might not even have her first and second primary molars yet. I think those teeth probably will be present by her 2nd birthday. Every child is different. My point is that as she ages and more teeth come in, her occlusion, (the way her teeth come together when she bites down)will adjust and change. She may have a consistent underbite even after all the baby teeth come in but if that predicts how her permanent teeth will also be, I'm not sure. You will have all of these questions answered soon by the dentist. When children are this little, it is difficult to say how their bites will be in the future. I wouldn't stress too much about it, there isn't anything you should do right now to prevent her from sticking her jaw out. Just be observant of her teeth as she grows and regularly take her to the dentist who as a professional with an eye for malocclusions (wrong bites) will be able to tell you when to intervine and perhaps look into orthodontics (braces, etc.)

Hi....
Well, at one point or another, both of my kids would stick out there "lower jaw" to pout and just when making silly faces. And I've seen other children do that. However, if she still had the underbite when she's relaxed or asleep... That's a whole different story.

Have you talked to your Pediatrician? If not, I would do that before talking to the Dentist. I would think that your Pediatrician could give you more insight.

Also, if your daughter does have an underbite, don't worry. That's something that can be corrected down the road.

God bless you and your family.

My son had an underbite at 2 and that was due to missing 2nd incisors. The orthodontist said these are the most common defective teeth. A long story short, we realized he was missing teeth, but didn't realize his excessive drooling was due to an underbite until his first trip to the dentist at 4. They x-rayed and said he would never get those teeth. He is now 13 and has been seeing orthodontists since. We had an excellent one who corrected his underbite and crossbite. We currently have one who is widening his bite for implants. He will need to continue going to the orthodontist until he is done growing somewhere around 18-21. Your daughter may not have anywhere close to what my son has, but I wanted to let
you know about it just in case. Good luck.

Jackie

My daughter has the same problem and I was hoping you had gotten other responses. She just stopped using the binky and I'm hoping that will correct some of the problem. Our family is prone to bad teeth so it might just be genetics. I'm sure your daughter will be fine or at least the dentist will have a recommendation. Good luck!

My son is the same. I would recommend that you take your daughter to the dentist. Our pediatric dentist said that we would probably have to get braces. Good Luck!