People feel irritated to wear braces most of the time, especially at the beginning of treatment. With that, when they notice, they have misalignment or crooked teeth in the bottom teeth only, they want to know, “Can you get braces on bottom teeth only?”
This is not common to get braces on buttom teeth only, but in some minor or special cases, you may have it. Usually, you need to wear braces no both jaw even if you think that you have a problem only on buttom jaw. The reason is the correction of bite. However, if you forcefully wear braces only on lower teeth, it’ll cause other problems.
Now, you may wonder when you can get braces on lower teeth only and if your case is the same as that.
What problems you’ll have to face if you get braces only the lower jaw only, even when it’s not recommended.
Let’s know it.
When do you want to get braces on bottom teeth only?
First of all, let’s know the cases when people want braces on bottom teeth only and why they want:
1. No visible teeth irregularities on upper teeth
When you have misaligned teeth only on lower teeth, but you find no problems in upper teeth, you would want to wear braces only on lower teeth.
But, there may be some problems with the upper teeth that you can’t realize or visible to you, and orthodontists only can notice the problem.
2. Not wanting to show braces to other
people don’t want to wear braces on top teeth with mild irregularities, as they don’t want people to see them wearing braces. On the other hand, they like to wear braces only on the lower jaw.
3. Minor misalignment of top teeth
Some patients are happy with mild tooth misalignment on top teeth. So, they want to stay away from the top teeth braces.
With that, if they need to correct lower teeth abnormality, they want to wear braces only on bottom teeth.
4. Overbite only on lower teeth
In some cases, lower teeth are placed a bit forward than the upper teeth. You feel that this happens because of the problem with lower teeth and it might be corrected if you wear braces only on lower teeth.
You think your upper teeth are ok. But, it may not be like that.
5. Straight and normal upper teeth
You have mild crowding or teeth misalignment only in the lower jaw, while upper teeth are straight. So, you must want to get braces only on lower teeth.
6. Lower jaw having one or two misplaced teeth
Some people have only a minor problem in lower teeth like one or two teeth are out of the arch. There may not have any problem with other teeth of both jaws.
7. Limited budget
Everyone can’t afford the cost of braces. So, when they see bottom teeth has more problem than the top teeth, they want to take orthodontic treatment only for bottom teeth to cut the cost.
When can you get braces on buttom teeth only?
After knowing all of these, you may be curious to know, “How can I straighten my bottom teeth with bottom braces only?”
Here are the situations when you can get braces on buttom teeth only:
1. Single arch orthodontic treatment
Some orthodontists perform this technique, they use braces on one jaw at first. So, you get braces buttom teeth only as you want.
But, after some days, they use braces on the upper jaw. You may have braces only on one jaw during the beginning days of treatment. But, you need to wear braces on both jaws, even in this technique.
2. No need for bite correction
When you don’t need to correct bite, you may get braces only on button teeth to solve the issue. That means you shouldn’t have an overbite, underbite, or serious crossbite.
In addition, after the end of one arch braces treatment, there mustn’t any bite problem. When your orthodontist evaluates and finds those factors, you might get braces only on bottom teeth to correct the problems.
Example of some cases:
Having small gaps in between lower teeth
If you have a small space between lower front teeth, you may get simple braces on lower jaw solely, only if it doesn’t create an overbite after the end of treatment.
However, you may not go for orthodontic treatment for lower teeth with this mirror issue, as someone can’t see your lower teeth normally.
No teeth abnormalities on the upper jaw
Some people have tooth irregularities on the lower jaw only. On the other hand, upper teeth are straight and have a mild overbite.
If the lower teeth crowding is mild, you may get braces to just straighten bottom teeth. But, how does this happen?
Having a minor overbite means teeth of your upper jaw are placed slightly forward than usual. With that, when crowded teeth get straight, they tend to move forward.
So, if you get lower braces only and it moves your lower teeth forward, it’ll correct your lower teeth crowding as well as overbite at the same time.
But, rarely someone becomes such lucky.
Having problems with one or two bottom teeth
Sometimes you may have an issue with one or two teeth of the lower jaw. It may be slightly displaced from the position it is supposed to take.
In that case, you may get braces only on lower teeth. But, it’s also very rare.
though we give you a list, it’s very rare to get braces only on bottom teeth because we need to adjust teeth bite. But, what’s the problem with that? Let’s know.
When and why don’t you get braces on buttom teeth only?
Here are the actual causes and situation when you don’t get braces on lower jaw only to correct crooked bottom teeth:
1. Bite problem
The bite is the main problem that prevents you from getting braces on only bottom teeth. It’s not that your orthodontic will just move your teeth to your desired position and end the treatment.
Even though you don’t have any misaligned teeth in the upper jaw, you need to wear braces on both jaws to correct lower jaw problems. You may wonder why?
The reason for that is the teeth of both jaws maintain a relationship with each other. Suppose you have a problem with your front teeth. You think about correcting front teeth problems.
But, you may not understand that you have errors in back teeth or you may have it after correction of your front teeth only. Simply speaking, all teeth are related to each and we need to think of it as a whole.
So, to establish proper biting and relationship between teeth of both jaw, you don’t get braces on bottom teeth only in most of the cases.
That’s even if you see there is no problem with your upper teeth, it’s likely that you get braces on both jaws.
2. Underbite
When your lower teeth are forwardly placed than upper teeth, which we call an underbite, you may want to move the lower teeth back with the braces on bottom teeth only.
But, as we have to maintain the bite relationship, we give you braces on both jaws. You may ask, why?
When we use braces only of the lower jaw, it will give you a new bite problem after getting teeth straightened. This situation can be worse than the situation before one arch treatment.
Moreover, in most of the cases, an underbite is related to your jawbone issue. We don’t only move the teeth but also the jawbone. In that case, we need to wear braces on both jaws.
3. Crossbite
A crossbite is a situation when you have no problem with the front teeth, but one or more molar teeth can be twisted or misaligned. In this case, you get braces on both top and bottom teeth, usually.
4. Severe crowding
Teeth overcrowding is a common type of malocclusion. This happens when you don’t have enough space in a jaw for the accommodation of teeth.
Most of the cases, you need to wear braces on both jaws, even if you may have crowding in bottom jaw only.
Not only that, but we may also need to remove several teeth to create more space for the straightening of the teeth.
5. Big gaps in between teeth
Just like the problem with a lack of space for teeth in the jaw, having more space also causes problems. You don’t look good with spaced dentition.
If you have spaced teeth in the lower jaw and not much abnormality in the upper jaw, you may want to get braces on the lower jaw only.
But, when you have big gaps, we have to correct bite. So, you have to wear braces on both jaws. If you need to fix a big gap caused by the extraction of a tooth, you will also get braces on the teeth of both jaws.
Is it OK to have crooked bottom teeth?
Though it isn’t normal to have crooked bottom teeth, you may not need to correct them if they don’t cause any functional problems. If you have straight upper teeth with no visible abnormality, you don’t need braces for lower teeth only, as people can’t notice misaligned lower teeth easily.
Moreover, you need to wear braces on both jaws and need the same lengthy orthodontic treatment. So, if you don’t have any major problems, you can avoid the treatment and be ok with crooked bottom teeth.
What are the side effects of getting braces on bottom teeth only?
Here are the possible side effects of getting bottom braces only, when it’s not indicated:
1. Getting an overbite, underbite or crossbite
You may develop an overbite, underbite, or crossbite after treatment with lower braces only. You may not have the problems when you visit your orthodontist to get your teeth straightened.
Because of not wearing braces on upper teeth which you need to correct the bite in most of the cases, you have these issues. So, you may end up having a worse condition.
When we straighten crowded bottom teeth, they shift forward. On the other hand, when we fix gaps on the lower teeth, they move backward.
If we don’t adjust upper teeth with the forwardly or backwardly moved lower teeth, you’ll have a severe bite issue.
2. Chewing difficulty
Because of the poor relationship of teeth of both jaws, you can’t chew or take a bite on foods perfectly.
Your all teeth don’t work synchronously when we don’t maintain this relationship. Don’t ever think of eating foods without chewing, because we can’t digest foods properly without chewing them nicely.
3. Early tooth contact
Sometime, having only lower teeth straightened may lead to an open bite. That means when you try to clench teeth, some teeth make contact early. As a result, gaps remain between upper and lower teeth.
4. Tongue thrusting or tooth grinding
Abnormal bite due to unplanned treatment with bottom braces can lead to various bad oral habits like tooth grinding or tongue thrusting.
5. TMJ issues
When you an abnormal bite and wrong chewing habits, we’ll soon develop pain in TMJ. This leads to various TMJ problems like limited mouth opening or having a clicking sound in TMJ.
Alternatives to Single Arch Orthodontic Treatment
If you don’t want to carry those metal braces on both jaws, you may try some alternatives like Invisalign. But, why Invisalign?
You maybe don’t want to wear braces on upper teeth because you are concern about your look. Invisalign are made of clear plastic that can’t be noticed easily.
It is also easier to carry inside the mouth. It can fix almost all types of malocclusion like braces.
Another alternative is invisible or ceramic braces. It’s also transparent. So, someone can’t notice that you are wearing braces on upper teeth.
But, you must consult with a licensed orthodontist to get the best option to correct your case.
You may think of other alternatives such as a removable retainer. But, now a day, orthodontist doesn’t use it for active treatment.
You only get it after the end of braces treatment to hold the teeth in the new position. It doesn’t work properly to fix orthodontic problems in the active stage.
Takeaways
In short, you don’t get braces on bottom teeth only to correct crooked teeth in most of the cases. You need to wear braces on both arches to maintain a perfect bite to prevent further problems in the future.
However, you may get it in one or two minor cases. Your orthodontist knows what is better for you. So, keep patience and follow his or her instruction to get the best outcome of treatment.
We also recommended orthodontic treatment with having braces on the teeth of both jaws in most of cases.
If if you have a problem with upper teeth, you can check our other article to know whether you get braces on upper teeth only.
