How Long Does an Overbite Take to Fix?

Braces treatment time will also depend on the type of overbite you’re dealing with. After meeting with an orthodontist for a consultation, you may return for multiple visits for an exam, x-rays, and scans or impressions of your current teeth. 

If you have any issues that need to be addressed before treatment, like cavities or crowding that requires an extraction in order to create space for teeth to move, those will also need to be taken care of prior to your braces being put on. 

Your orthodontist will create a treatment plan to correct your overbite. With braces, brackets are attached to your teeth and bands are placed around them. The bands are connected by wires that are periodically tightened to provide gentle pressure in order to move teeth. 

Braces treatment for an overbite may take one to two years and may require additional hardware, like a palate expander. Major overbites may require more treatment time. 

Researchers say, for example, that some people need intense treatment that blends both surgery and braces. Based on a 2017 study, that treatment can take the following lengths of time:

• 14.6 months if people have surgery to amend jaw size first, before braces
• 22 months if people have braces before surgery

During braces treatment, you meet with your orthodontist regularly for the following:

• Assessment: The orthodontist looks at your teeth and braces to determine if everything is moving according to plan.
• Tightening: Most braces rely on expert tightening. Wires get shorter to move teeth more while guided by an orthodontist.
• Repairs: Brackets that slip and slide can't pull on your teeth. New ones are sometimes required.

Skip an appointment, and you will pay the price. Researchers say missing more than two appointments adds almost a year to your treatment time frame.

For many people with a mild-to-moderate overbite, clear at-home aligners offer a faster and more straightforward treatment program — plus, they’re removable and virtually invisible.

With clear aligners, the process begins by getting a clear image of your current teeth. This is done with either an in-office tooth scan or at-home impression kit. Using that image, specialists and software are able to determine where your teeth need to move in order to create an optimal smile and bite.

A treatment plan is then made, and your series of aligners is created and shipped to you. The series of aligners is custom-designed to gently move your teeth through a progression of movement. After the last aligner tray, your teeth will be in correct positioning.

While in-office aligner programs may vary in treatment times (and may be able to address more severe cases of overbite), many at-home aligner providers have an average treatment time of around 6 months.

An overbite alters the relationship between upper and lower jaws, and fixing the problem with braces can take years, but aligners can do the job in a shorter time frame.

Experts say traditional overbite correction with braces involves the following:

• Alignment: Brackets affix to teeth, and wires connect them. As the wires shorten, teeth move into new positions.
• Overbite reduction: Headgear, rubber bands, or both pull jaws into new positions. These devices attach to braces that stay in place.
• Space reduction: Close monitoring ensures that jaws don't move too much, and teeth fit together in perfect alignment.

Aligners are a little different. Choose this therapy, and your treatment follows one of two paths.

• Braces first: Headgear and rubber bands attach to braces to adjust the overbite. With that step completed, braces come off. Aligner therapy pushes your teeth into their final spots.
• Aligners only: If your overbite is mild or moderate, you may only need clear aligners. You’ll wear each tray for a week or two before moving on to the next. Each tray will progressively move your teeth to correct positioning.

When your braces treatment is complete, your teeth should overlap in perfect harmony. But sometimes, the treatment doesn't work as planned. 

For example, researchers say some overbite adjustments with braces lead to poor smile aesthetics. The smile broadens, so too many teeth appear when you smile. Everything should look fine and ideal, but something looks slightly altered or wrong. 

You're not forced to live with a smile you don't love. If braces adjusted the overbite but left your smile less than ideal, aligner treatment may help. A subtle adjustment to a few key teeth could give you the smile you’ve been looking for.

Not sure if we can help with your overbite? Start with our online “Am I a Candidate” questionnaire and then continue on to an at-home impression kit. Once you send it back, we’ll determine if aligners are a good option for you.

If it turns out you’re not a candidate for our aligners, we’ll refund you. If you are a candidate, you’ll be ready to begin your custom treatment plan and correct that overbite.

Your orthodontist will recommend the best way to properly align your teeth, so ultimately, the best way to help your treatment go faster is to follow every step your treating professional recommends.

If you have an overbite that can be treated using several different options, you may be able to choose a faster option. For example, traditional metal brackets are good orthodontics for people with complex dental alignment problems, but increasingly, clear plastic aligners are a better option for serious or moderate dental alignment struggles, including overbites.

Currently, treatment with clear aligners takes several weeks or months, while treatment with metal brackets and wire braces takes months, up to two years.

Treating your overbite with orthodontics can be expensive since dental insurance will not generally cover adult braces or other orthodontia. However, treating your overbite does not have to cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Many people with overbites benefit from less expensive, at-home clear aligner treatment, which is overseen by a professional orthodontist with very few required checkups or even virtual visits. Following the treatment plan and taking care of your clear aligners ensure you get the best possible results for much less than you would spend on in-person orthodontic treatment.

No, an overbite will not correct itself. Sometimes, children with baby teeth who have an overbite can see that problem resolve when their adult teeth come in, but this is rare. Teenagers and adults with overbites are more likely to experience a worsening of the problem than an improvement.

If you have an overbite, you might want to correct it because you want a dazzling smile. It can also be important to fix an overbite for the health of your teeth. Otherwise, your teeth might become sensitive, develop a chip, or even crack because of pressure when you bite and chew. Do not wait to get treatment to resolve an overbite.

If your teeth are generally healthy and your dentist is not concerned about their alignment, you do not have to correct your overbite. Keep going to your dentist at least once per year and maintaining a strong oral hygiene routine to reduce plaque buildup and tooth decay.

Unfortunately, having an overbite means that your teeth might suffer some damage because of pressure in the wrong places. This increases the risk of dental hygiene problems like cracked enamel. This is not your fault, as a good oral hygiene routine alone will not be enough to help.

Fixing an overbite can improve your smile so you feel less self-conscious, but it can also support better dental health overall.