Large gaps and unequal spacing between your teeth can make you feel self-conscious about your smile. Wide spaces between teeth could also negatively affect the way you speak and eat. Gaps may be caused by having missing teeth or teeth that are disproportionately too small for your mouth.

Crowding occurs when there is insufficient space for all of your teeth. Your teeth naturally shift as you age and you may experience more crowding as you get older. Crowded teeth are hard to clean and up twisted out of alignment. This increases the risk of uneven enamel wear and chipped teeth.

An underbite results from having a lower jaw that is longer or bigger than the upper part of your mouth. All of the lower front teeth overlap the front of the upper teeth and may even close down deeply over them.

Can you feel your lower front teeth biting into the roof of your mouth when you bite down? This could be a sign that you have an overbite.

An open bite is when your upper teeth and lower teeth do not meet when you bite down. This commonly happens in children who have a thumb-sucking habit.

Upper teeth are supposed to overlap the lower ones slightly. This is the most comfortable and functional alignment. In a crossbite, the situation is reversed and one or more lower teeth may close down over the upper teeth. This can potentially lead to issues such as uneven jaw growth or uneven enamel loss.

Front teeth that protrude outwards are classified as overjet. This is different from an overbite in which the front teeth close down too far over the lower teeth. In an overjet, there is an excessive amount of horizontal distance between the upper and lower front teeth. Overjet can be caused by either a genetic discrepancy in the size of the lower and upper jaws or due to the misalignment of the upper front teeth.

Besides bite alignment issues, orthodontic treatment can also help remedy problems in individual teeth. One or two teeth might be tipped too far inwards or outwards or twisted out of healthy alignment. Sometimes, a tooth can end up out of alignment because there is an empty space nearby.

Impacted teeth are ones that did not emerge from the gums into straight alignment. Teeth can become impacted when their path is blocked by crowded or malpositioned teeth. Braces can sometimes help draw an impacted tooth into healthy alignment with the rest of the teeth.