A healthy, straight smile enhances our appearance, yet many face dental irregularities—prominent teeth being a common concern. These can be categorized as skeletal or dental in origin. So, how should protruding teeth be corrected?
If it's purely dental protrusion, only the teeth jut forward with excessive inclination of their long axes. Your upper lip and nasal area remain flat. For skeletal protrusion, both the teeth and the base of the maxilla protrude forward. The lips cannot fully cover the teeth, resulting in excessive tooth exposure—most noticeable when smiling.
Exposed gums may also be visible, significantly affecting appearance. The lower lip is similarly affected: due to the protruding alveolar ridge, the nasolabial fold becomes shallow or disappears. This fold is a key indicator of facial aesthetics; its loss diminishes appearance. Additionally, from a lateral view, the chin may appear receded. The soft tissues of the chin often appear taut when the mouth is closed—a characteristic feature of skeletal protrusion.
Dental Protrusion (Buck Teeth):
Caused by excessive forward inclination of the teeth. This type of buck teeth can achieve good results with orthodontic appliance treatment.
Skeletal Protrusion:
This type of protrusion results from excessive upper jaw bone development or a receding lower jaw bone. For such patients, orthodontic appliances alone yield limited results. Combined treatment with orthognathic surgery is recommended.
Traditional orthodontics can only correct misaligned teeth. When applied to skeletal protrusions like maxillary overgrowth, relapse often occurs. Orthognathic surgery, with its precision techniques, overcomes the limitations of braces or conventional orthodontics for adults with skeletal deformities.