What is a cross bite?

A Malocclusion : It is a bite where a 'top' tooth bites on the on the tongue-side of a 'bottom' tooth. This can happen to single or multiple teeth.

Up is in: Normally, all of your upper teeth are on the outside of your lower teeth. If the upper teeth are on the inside of the lower teeth, it is a crossbite.

Crossbite: You can have anterior crossbite, or posterior, it can be one tooth, or multiple teeth, and what it means is that when you bite your teeth together, your lower teeth are on the outside of the upper when they're normally suppose to be on the inside. (outside means toward cheek/lip, inside means toward tongue/palate).

Backwards: One or more upper teeth inside lower teeth. May be dental (improperly aligned teeth), skeletal (improperly aligned jaws), or both. The earlier it's treated the easier. Seek consultation w Orthodontic Specialist now.

Overlapping teeth: Normally the top teeth overlap the bottom teeth. With a cross bite, the bottom teeth overlap the top teeth. This could be just two teeth, one from each jaw, or it could be one side or all of the teeth. In the adjacent picture, the top middle tooth is in crossbite with the lower middle tooth.

Dental terms: All top teeth should be outside of the bottom teeth. A cross bite is when 1 or more bottom teeth are outside of the top teeth when you bite. An over bite is when the top front teeth come too far down over the bottom teeth. This is a very simple explanation but is mostly correct. There are some exceptions.

Malocclusion: Cross bite is when upper teeth are more inside and the lower teeth are more outside. Over bite is when the upper teeth hang down over the lower teeth more than normal.

Irregularities: Cross bite means upper teeth inside lower teeth. May be dental or skeletal in origin. Overbite (vertical) means either upper or lower front teeth have over erupted. Overbite (horizontal), or more correctly over jet, means upper front teeth too far forward, or lower too far back, or combination of both. Again, problem may be dental or skeletal or combination. See an orthodontist.