How Orthodontics Can Help Fix Overbites, Underbites, and Crossbites

Yes, an overbite can be fixed, and so can an underbite or a crossbite. Orthodontics corrects all three by moving the teeth, and where the jawbone itself is out of position, by guiding jaw growth in children or combining braces with surgery in adults. The right method depends on how deep the bite problem runs and whether the jaws are still growing. At Mint Dental Care in Al Barsha, Dubai, our orthodontists start with digital scans and a bite analysis before recommending anything, because a 2mm deep bite in a teenager and a skeletal Class III underbite in a 34 year old are not the same problem.

Medically reviewed by Dr. Reji Moideen, Specialist Orthodontist at Mint Dental Care, Dubai.

What Are Overbites, Underbites, and Crossbites?

They are the three most common types of malocclusion, which simply means the upper and lower teeth do not meet the way they should. Each one has a different cause and a different fix, so telling them apart matters more than it sounds.

Overbite

An overbite is vertical overlap: the upper front teeth cover the lower front teeth when you close. Roughly 2mm to 4mm of overlap is normal and healthy. Past that, we call it a deep bite. The lower incisors start grinding into the back of the upper teeth, enamel thins at the edges, and in the deepest cases the lower teeth touch the gum tissue behind the upper front teeth and leave it sore and inflamed.

People often mix up overbite with overjet. Overjet is horizontal, the upper front teeth sticking forward, which is what most people picture when they say buck teeth. Many patients have both at once, and the treatment plan has to address each separately.

Underbite

An underbite is the reverse: the lower front teeth sit ahead of the upper front teeth when the mouth closes. It can be dental, where the teeth are tipped the wrong way but the jaws are fine, or skeletal, where the lower jaw is genuinely longer or the upper jaw is underdeveloped. That distinction drives everything. Dental underbites respond well to braces. Skeletal ones in adults usually do not, at least not fully.

Crossbite

A crossbite happens when upper teeth close inside the lower teeth instead of outside them. It can involve one tooth or a whole segment. Posterior crossbites affect the back teeth and usually trace back to a narrow upper jaw. Anterior crossbites affect the front teeth and look, at a glance, like an underbite.

Anterior Crossbite vs Underbite: What Is the Difference?

An anterior crossbite usually involves one or two upper front teeth trapped behind the lower ones while the jaws themselves line up correctly. A true underbite is a full arch relationship, every lower front tooth ahead of the uppers, and it is often skeletal. A single tooth anterior crossbite in an eight year old can sometimes be corrected in a few months with a simple appliance. A skeletal underbite in the same child needs a longer plan and careful monitoring of jaw growth. The photos look similar. The treatments are not.

Are Overbites Bad? Why Bite Problems Are Worth Fixing

A mild overbite is not bad at all, it is normal anatomy. A deep or untreated one is a slow problem, and that is the part patients underestimate. Bite issues rarely hurt at 20. They show up at 40 as chipped incisors, a cracked molar, receding gums, or a jaw joint that clicks every morning.

• Uneven wear. When force lands on two or three teeth instead of all twenty eight, those teeth pay for it. We see flattened canines and chipped incisal edges constantly in deep bite patients.
• Jaw strain. A bite that forces the lower jaw to shift sideways to close keeps the muscles working overtime. That connection between bite alignment and jaw alignment and TMJ health is why some headache patients end up in an orthodontic chair.
• Gum recession. Teeth pushed outside the bone envelope by a crossbite lose gum support first. Lower incisors are the usual casualty.
• Chewing and speech. Underbites in particular affect how efficiently you break food down, and open or crossed front teeth can cause a lisp on s and z sounds.
• Cleaning. Overlapped, rotated teeth trap plaque in places floss struggles to reach, which quietly raises decay and gum disease risk.

Can an Overbite Be Fixed? Here Is How

An overbite can be fixed in almost every case, and in adults it is normally corrected with braces or aligners, sometimes with small bite ramps bonded behind the upper front teeth to open the bite first. What changes between patients is the mechanics, not the outcome.

Fixed braces

Metal or ceramic braces treatment remains the most predictable route for deep bites, because the archwire can intrude the front teeth and level the curve of Spee in a way removable trays find harder. In growing teens, elastics and a functional appliance can also encourage the lower jaw forward while the teeth are being straightened.

Clear aligners

For mild to moderate overbites, aligners with attachments and precision bite ramps work well and stay invisible through the process. Compliance is the catch: 20 to 22 hours a day, every day. If you are weighing the two approaches, our breakdown of clear aligners versus braces covers where each one wins.

Growth guidance in children

Between roughly ages 9 and 13, a twin block or Herbst appliance can reposition a retruded lower jaw while it is still growing. This window closes. The same correction after growth stops usually needs surgery instead, which is the strongest argument for an early screening.

Surgical correction

A small number of adults have an overbite driven by jaw position rather than tooth position. For them, orthodontics alone camouflages the problem instead of solving it, and jaw surgery combined with braces gives the stable result.

The Best Way to Fix an Underbite Without Braces Alone

Braces alone rarely fix a skeletal underbite in an adult, so the best approach is usually braces combined with something else: a palatal expander and face mask in children, or orthognathic surgery in fully grown patients. Here is how that plays out by age.

Children, roughly ages 7 to 10

A rapid palatal expander widens the upper jaw, and a reverse pull face mask worn at night pulls the upper jaw forward against the growth pattern. Started early enough, this can head off surgery entirely. We usually run it for 9 to 12 months and then reassess.

Teenagers

Braces with Class III elastics can tip the upper teeth forward and the lower teeth back, which handles mild dental underbites well. We monitor growth closely here, because a lower jaw that keeps growing can undo the correction. In some cases the honest advice is to wait until growth finishes before committing to a definitive plan.

Adults

Mild dental underbites can be corrected with braces or aligners plus elastics. True skeletal cases need orthognathic surgery to reposition the jaw, with braces before surgery to align the arches and after surgery to settle the bite. The full sequence typically runs 18 to 30 months. It is a bigger commitment, and it is also the only thing that genuinely fixes the underlying anatomy.

How Orthodontics Corrects a Crossbite

Crossbites are corrected by widening the upper arch, uprighting the tipped teeth, or both. The method depends on whether the narrowness is in the bone or just the teeth.

In children, the midpalatal suture has not fused yet, so a fixed expander turned a fraction of a millimetre a day can widen the upper jaw skeletally in a few weeks. It is quick, well tolerated, and the results hold. Once the suture fuses in the late teens, expansion becomes a dental tip rather than a skeletal change, and severe adult cases may need surgically assisted expansion or bone anchored appliances.

Single tooth anterior crossbites often respond to a simple fixed appliance or a few months of braces on the upper arch. Mild posterior crossbites can be handled with aligners and cross elastics. Whatever the method, treating a crossbite early matters, because a bite that forces the jaw to shift sideways to close can push the face into visible asymmetry over years of growth.

What to Expect: Treatment Steps and Timelines

Bite correction at our clinic follows a predictable sequence, and most patients are in active treatment for 12 to 24 months depending on the severity of the malocclusion.

• Consultation and records, day one. Digital intraoral scan, photographs, a panoramic radiograph, and a lateral cephalogram. The ceph is what tells us whether a problem is dental or skeletal, and it is the reason we do not quote a plan from a photo.
• Diagnosis and plan, one to two weeks. We walk you through what is causing the bite issue, the realistic options, the timeline, and the cost before anything is bonded.
• Appliance fitting. Braces bonding takes about 60 to 90 minutes. Aligner delivery is shorter. Expect three to five days of soreness while the teeth start to move.
• Active treatment. Visits every 6 to 8 weeks for braces, every 8 to 10 for aligners. Bite correction usually happens in the middle third of treatment, which is often when patients notice the biggest change.
• Retention, permanent. A fixed lingual wire, a removable retainer at night, or both. Corrected bites relapse without retention, and this is the single most common reason a fixed overbite comes back.

How Much Does Bite Correction Cost in Dubai?

Bite correction in Dubai typically runs from around AED 9,000 for straightforward cases up to AED 25,000 or more for complex skeletal treatment, with surgical cases quoted separately. These are indicative ranges and need confirmation at consultation, since the fee tracks the complexity of your case, not a menu.

• Metal braces, mild to moderate bite correction: approximately AED 9,000 to 15,000
• Ceramic or self ligating braces: approximately AED 12,000 to 20,000
• Clear aligners, full case: approximately AED 14,000 to 25,000
• Palatal expander or interceptive appliance for children: approximately AED 3,500 to 7,000
• Retainers after treatment: approximately AED 800 to 2,000

Most patients at our clinic pay in monthly instalments across the treatment, and some insurance plans contribute where the case is functional rather than cosmetic. Our guide to braces costs and payment plans in Dubai breaks the numbers down further.

Why Early Screening Changes the Options

Early screening matters because some corrections are only possible while a child is growing. The American Association of Orthodontists recommends a first orthodontic evaluation by age seven, when the first permanent molars and incisors have come through and the bite relationship becomes readable.

At seven we are not looking to put braces on. We are checking for a crossbite forcing the jaw sideways, a developing underbite, a narrow upper arch, or a thumb habit deepening an overjet. Catching those means a short interceptive phase instead of a long corrective one later.

That said, adults do well. Teeth move at any age as long as the gums and bone are healthy. The difference is that we work with the jaws you have rather than the jaws you are growing, so the toolkit shifts toward braces, aligners, and where needed, surgery.

Choosing the Right Treatment for Your Bite

The right treatment comes down to four things we assess at your consultation in Al Barsha: your age and remaining jaw growth, whether the problem is dental or skeletal, the health of your gums and bone, and how visible you are willing for the treatment to be.

A 12 year old with a posterior crossbite and a narrow palate gets an expander, and the conversation is short. A 29 year old with a 7mm deep bite and worn lower incisors has a genuine choice between braces and aligners, and lifestyle carries real weight in that decision. A 35 year old with a skeletal Class III underbite deserves an honest conversation about what braces alone can and cannot deliver. We would rather tell you that on day one than 18 months in.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can an overbite be fixed without surgery?

In most cases, yes. The large majority of overbites are dental or mildly skeletal and correct fully with braces or clear aligners, often using bite ramps or elastics to open the bite. Surgery is reserved for adults whose overbite is driven by a significantly retruded lower jaw, and that is a minority of cases. A lateral cephalogram at your consultation tells us which group you fall into.

Can retainers fix an overbite?

No. Retainers hold teeth where they already are, they do not move them into a new bite relationship. A retainer cannot reduce vertical overlap or reposition a jaw. Where retainers matter is after correction: without one, a fixed overbite drifts back toward its old position within a year or two. Some clinics use spring retainers for very minor front tooth relapse, but that is fine tuning, not bite correction.

Can I put braces only on my upper teeth?

Occasionally, but not for most bite problems. Single arch treatment can work when only the upper teeth are crowded and the bite is already correct, or for a simple anterior crossbite in a child. The problem is that moving upper teeth changes how they meet the lower ones, so a single arch case can easily create a bite issue that was not there before. For overbites, underbites, and crossbites, both arches are almost always needed.

Can kids get braces with baby teeth still in place?

Yes, in a limited way. Phase one or interceptive treatment in the mixed dentition, typically ages 7 to 10, uses expanders, partial braces on the permanent front teeth and molars, or habit appliances. The goal is not straight teeth, it is fixing a crossbite, creating space, or guiding jaw growth while the window is open. A second phase with full braces usually follows once the permanent teeth are all through.

How long does it take to correct an underbite or crossbite?

A child’s crossbite treated with an expander can resolve in 3 to 6 months of active expansion. Mild dental underbites with braces and elastics generally take 12 to 18 months. Skeletal underbites needing surgery run 18 to 30 months across the whole sequence, including the pre surgical and post surgical orthodontic phases. Your own timeline gets estimated once we have your records.

Will fixing my bite change my face?

Sometimes, and usually in a good way. Correcting a deep bite can restore lower face height that had collapsed. Expanding a narrow upper jaw broadens the smile and reduces the dark corners at the sides. Jaw surgery for a skeletal underbite changes the profile noticeably, which is often part of why patients choose it. Mild dental corrections, on the other hand, rarely change facial appearance much beyond the smile itself. We show you the expected outcome at planning so there are no surprises. Book a consultation and we will go through your scans with you.

Related orthodontic guides

• Signs you need braces beyond crooked front teeth
• Adult braces in Dubai: is it too late to straighten your teeth?
• Best type of braces in Dubai: metal, ceramic, or self ligating
• Clear or Hawley retainer: which is better after treatment
• Myobrace: a natural way to straighten teeth in children