Open Bite Correction in Encinitas, CA
An open bite is often about airway, not just teeth.
An open bite means your front teeth don't touch when your back teeth are together. It's not just a cosmetic issue — it's usually a signal that something else is happening. Mouth breathing, tongue posture, airway restriction — these are often the real drivers. Dr. Liatti treats the cause, not just the symptom. In children, early intervention can prevent an open bite from developing; in adults, several approaches can correct it.
What Is an Open Bite?
An open bite (anterior open bite) is when the upper and lower front teeth don't touch when the back teeth are clenched together. Instead, there's a gap — sometimes small, sometimes significant. The teeth don't overlap the way they should, and the front teeth can't function normally for biting and cutting food.
Open bite is different from other bite problems because it's almost always connected to something deeper: airway restriction, mouth breathing, tongue posture, or how the jaws grew. It's a symptom, not just a positioning issue.
This is why Dr. Liatti doesn't just look at the teeth. He evaluates your airway, breathing patterns, tongue posture, and how your jaws grew. Understanding the cause tells you what treatment will actually stick and prevent relapse.
Why Open Bites Develop —
The Airway Connection
Mouth breathing
When a child can't breathe through their nose — due to allergies, adenoid enlargement, a deviated septum, or a narrow upper jaw — they mouth breathe. The tongue drops to the floor of the mouth instead of resting on the roof. The jaws respond by growing downward and backward, the vertical dimension of the face increases, and the teeth erupt but don't touch in front. An open bite develops.
Tongue thrust
Tongue thrust is when the tongue pushes forward against the teeth during swallowing or at rest. The constant forward pressure prevents the front teeth from coming together, and it often goes hand-in-hand with mouth breathing — they're linked problems.
Vertical maxillary excess
Sometimes the upper face grows too long vertically. This can happen alongside mouth breathing, or be a primary growth pattern. Either way, an open bite often results.
The pattern is a cycle, not a straight line: airway restriction encourages mouth breathing, mouth breathing drops the tongue away from the palate, the low tongue lets the upper jaw narrow and the lower jaw rotate down and back — and the narrower airway makes nasal breathing even harder. Catch the mouth breathing early and you can prevent the whole sequence. It's far easier to prevent than to correct.
An open bite has a cause — your free evaluation finds it.
Book Your Free ConsultationWhy This Matters to Dr. Liatti
I had an open bite myself — caused by mouth breathing and low tongue posture. My upper airway was restricted, so I breathed through my mouth. My tongue sat low. My jaws grew down and back. My front teeth never touched. It wasn't until my adult years that I had jaw surgery to correct it. If someone had caught the airway issue when I was eight or nine, expansion could have widened my upper jaw, opened my airway, and prevented the whole sequence from happening. I might never have needed surgery.
That's why I focus on airway with every patient. An open bite isn't just a cosmetic problem to fix with braces. It's a flag that something's off with the airway or breathing pattern. Fix that first, and the teeth often follow.
Open Bite Correction in Children
The best approach to open bite in children is prevention. If mouth breathing or airway restriction is caught early, addressing it can prevent an open bite from developing in the first place. This might involve an ENT consultation for adenoid or allergy evaluation, or nasal breathing retraining.
If expansion is needed to widen the upper jaw and open airway space, rapid palatal expansion is well-tolerated and effective in children — widening the upper jaw can improve nasal airflow and support a shift from mouth breathing to nasal breathing.
Habit appliances can discourage tongue thrust and help retrain tongue posture. Myofunctional therapy — tongue posture exercises — teaches the tongue to rest properly. By addressing the airway and breathing pattern early, you're preventing the jaw growth that causes the open bite. It's the difference between intercepting a problem and fixing it after it's set.
Open Bite Correction in Adults
In adults, the approach depends on how severe the open bite is. For mild open bites, braces or Invisalign can often correct it by moving the teeth and improving vertical dimension. Stability is key — if tongue thrust or mouth breathing isn't addressed, the open bite can relapse after treatment.
For more severe open bites, surgical orthodontics may be indicated. Braces align the teeth first, a surgeon repositions the jaws to improve vertical dimension, and braces finish the correction — a more stable result for severe cases.
Regardless of the orthodontic approach, Dr. Liatti evaluates the airway and breathing pattern. If mouth breathing is present, retraining to nasal breathing supports long-term stability. The goal isn't just to close the gap — it's to close the gap and keep it closed by addressing whatever caused it.
What our patients say.
I recently finished my orthodontic treatment at Encinitas Orthodontics. I had an underbite but now it’s perfect. Dr. Liatti’s treatment method to move my teeth considered my overall health instead of just how the teeth looks, unlike other orthodontists who…
We have been to several other orthodontists in the north county area for braces for my other two kids, but I switched to Dr. Liatti at Encinitas Orthodontics for my third child’s braces and he is unquestionably the best in the business!
We love Dr. Liatti and his amazing staff! Our older son was treated for airway restriction/sleep apnea, and our younger son for a crossbite that would have permanently damaged his adult teeth.
We consulted with multiple orthodontists before and after meeting Dr. Liatti. We live quite far (1 hour drive) but it was 100% the right decision. Each of our children have received personalized care and treatment plans.
Dr. Liatti and his staff came in and saved me from a previously horrible Invisalign experience. Within two weeks, I had a new treatment plan (done the correct way with the latest technologies from a board certified orthodontist) and a new caring, funny…
I just finished my journey with braces through Encinitas Orthodontics/Dr. Liatti. He and his team are friendly and very knowledgeable.
Serving North County San Diego & beyond.
Encinitas Orthodontics is located at 317 N El Camino Real, Suite 203, in Encinitas, CA — serving families from across North County San Diego and the greater San Diego area who are looking for open bite treatment.
Patients visit from Encinitas, Carlsbad, Del Mar, Solana Beach, Rancho Santa Fe, San Marcos, and Oceanside.