The Bite Runner

The bite or what dentists call “occlusion” refers to the way your teeth come together when you close your jaw. Ideally we want the bite to be balanced, meaning that all the back teeth touch at the same time when biting and swallowing. When touching the biting edges of your top and bottom teeth together, the back teeth should separate. When the teeth do not meet in this manner and interferences with jaw movement result, dental problems like clenching and grinding, excessive tooth wear, and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) issues can arise.

A bad bite can contribute to clenching (usually during the day, holding upper and lower teeth together forcefully) and grinding (usually while sleeping, sliding clenched teeth side to side). Most people who exhibit this behavior are completely unaware that they are doing it and if they are aware, often do not realize that this is abnormal. The daily “clenchers” with bad bites also tend to grind their teeth at night, blissfully unaware that they are causing compounding the damage to their teeth, gums, and TMJ.


The teeth of those people with bad bites tend to demonstrate some common characteristics. Typical problems visible are heavy wear facets where the teeth contact improperly, cracked or fractured teeth, cracked or fractured restorations, notching of the root surfaces (abfractions), and worn down teeth. Teeth naturally wear down with age and use, but with excessive stress teeth wear at an exaggerated rate. The teeth will exhibit “wear beyond their years.”

Gum (periodontal) problems are also exacerbated by a bad bite. Unusual forces or stresses can strain the socket like bone surrounding the teeth. With constant stress the bone breaks down and is lost. When the bone goes, the gums go with it. Over a period of time there is nothing left to support the teeth and they become loose and painful.


Bite problems can cause many TMJ issues. The main symptoms are clicking, locking open or closed, pain in the TMJ and muscles surrounding, muscle tension, and migraine or tension headaches. All these problems occur when the joint is excessively stressed which makes the muscles work harder. The muscles spasm and constrict nerves and blood supply to the sides of the head resulting in headaches.

So how do we fix a bad bite? The solution is determined by the cause of the bite problem. If the bad bite is a result of improper tooth position, braces can be an effective treatment. If the bad bite is a consequence of missing teeth, bridges, partials, dentures, and implants can be used to restore the bite. If the bite problem causes clenching and/or grinding, a bite guard would be an effective treatment to reduce damage to the teeth and TMJ.