Posterior crossbites can be defined as reversed bites in the back teeth of your child’s mouth. They can occur on one or both sides. In an ideal bite, the top teeth should rest outside of the bottom teeth, but a crossbite is the opposite.
This formation occurs if the upper jaw is constricted. The origin of the constriction isn’t always known, but it may be caused by a child’s thumb-sucking habit.
Correcting a crossbite will give your child a proper alignment and bite. If not fixed, their bite could wear down spots in their mouth or they could have a crooked smile. In some cases, there might not be enough room for permanent teeth to come in with a crossbite.
We can fix the crossbite by expanding your child’s upper jaw. Your child will wear an appliance called a W-Arch, which is named after its unique shape. It’s attached with small wires on the back teeth, but it’s also glued in place. A W-Arch appliance cannot be removed by the patient.
Every 4 to 6 weeks, our team will gradually expand the appliance to slowly correct the crossbite. Most crossbites take about 6 to 8 months to correct with a 4 to 6 month retention period after that. The expansion process is easy and provides no discomfort to patients.