Fixing an overbite depends on its severity, your age, and what’s causing it. Mild overbites can be corrected with braces or clear aligners in as little as six months, while severe cases involving jaw misalignment may require surgery. A normal bite has the upper front teeth sitting slightly ahead of the lower teeth, but when the vertical overlap exceeds about 2 millimeters, or when the upper teeth cover more than a third of the lower front teeth, treatment is typically recommended.
What an Overbite Actually Is
An overbite, also called a deep bite, is a vertical problem. Your upper front teeth overlap too far down over your lower front teeth when your jaw is closed. This is different from an overjet (sometimes called “buck teeth”), where the upper teeth angle outward horizontally past the lower teeth. Many people use “overbite” to describe both, but they’re distinct issues that sometimes require different approaches.
Overbites fall into two categories. A dental overbite means the teeth themselves are misaligned, but the jawbones are in reasonable position. A skeletal overbite means the upper or lower jaw is the wrong size or in the wrong position relative to the rest of the skull. Skeletal overbites are harder to fix and more likely to need surgery, especially in adults whose bones have stopped growing.
Why It’s Worth Correcting
An untreated deep bite isn’t just cosmetic. Over years, the excessive overlap grinds down enamel on the front teeth, sometimes exposing the sensitive layer underneath and causing pain or temperature sensitivity. In severe cases, the lower front teeth can bite into the soft tissue behind the upper teeth, causing chronic irritation. The uneven forces also contribute to jaw joint disorders, difficulty chewing, and an unstable bite that worsens with age. The earlier you address it, the less cumulative damage your teeth sustain.
Traditional Braces
Metal braces remain the most versatile option for overbite correction. They work by using brackets, wires, and sometimes elastic bands to reposition teeth and change how the upper and lower arches relate to each other. For a deep bite specifically, the orthodontist may use the wire to intrude (push up) the front teeth, extrude (pull down) the back teeth, or both, until the vertical overlap is reduced to a normal range.
Treatment with traditional braces averages one to three years, depending on severity. Costs range from roughly $3,000 to $7,500 for standard metal braces. Ceramic braces, which use tooth-colored brackets, run $2,000 to $8,500. Lingual braces, placed on the back surfaces of the teeth where they’re invisible, cost $5,000 to $13,000.
Clear Aligners
Clear aligners like Invisalign can effectively correct dental deep bites in adults. A study of 37 adult patients (average age 37) found that Invisalign reduced overbite by an average of 4.1 millimeters. The aligners work through a combination of pushing the front teeth upward and bringing the back teeth downward. In that study, the lower back teeth were systematically brought down in a graduated pattern, with the molars moving about 1 millimeter and the premolars moving closer to 1.7 millimeters each.
Average treatment time with aligners was about 21 months in the study, which aligns with the general estimate of 6 months to 2 years depending on the case. You’ll wear the trays 20 to 22 hours a day, removing them only for eating and brushing. The cost falls between $3,000 and $7,000, comparable to metal braces.
Clear aligners work best for mild to moderate dental overbites. If your overbite involves a significant skeletal component, or if teeth need to move in complex ways, traditional braces give the orthodontist more control.
Growth Modification for Children
Children and young teenagers have a significant advantage: their jaws are still growing, which means appliances can guide bone development rather than just moving teeth. Functional appliances like the Herbst appliance push the lower jaw forward while placing gentle backward pressure on the upper jaw. Over months of wear, this steady force encourages the lower jaw to grow into a better position relative to the upper jaw.
Early treatment (before age 11) does produce measurable short-term improvements in jaw alignment and bite positioning. However, research comparing early treatment to waiting until adolescence has found that the long-term outcomes are often similar, and early treatment tends to extend overall treatment duration by 7 to 12 months compared to starting later. This doesn’t mean early intervention is pointless. In some cases, particularly severe overbites or situations where a child’s teeth are at risk of trauma, starting early makes sense. But for many kids, beginning orthodontic treatment in the early teen years achieves the same final result in less total time.
Jaw Surgery for Severe Cases
When the overbite stems from a significant skeletal mismatch, and the patient is done growing, braces or aligners alone can’t fully correct the problem. Orthognathic (jaw) surgery repositions the upper jaw, lower jaw, or both to bring the facial skeleton into proper alignment. Orthodontics are almost always part of the process, worn before surgery to align the teeth within each arch and after surgery to fine-tune the bite.
There’s no single measurement that automatically qualifies you for surgery. Clinicians consider the severity of the skeletal discrepancy, the degree of vertical and horizontal overlap, the angle between the upper and lower jaw, and the length of the lower jaw. Age is the most influential factor in whether surgery enters the conversation: adults with severe overbites are far more likely to need it than growing adolescents with the same measurements, because growth modification is no longer an option. The full process, including pre-surgical orthodontics, the surgery itself, and post-surgical refinement, often takes two to three years.
Anchorage Devices for Complex Cases
Some overbites are too complex for braces alone but don’t require full jaw surgery. In these situations, orthodontists may use temporary anchorage devices: small titanium screws or plates placed into the jawbone to serve as fixed anchor points. These allow forces to be applied to teeth in ways that aren’t possible with brackets and wires alone.
For deep bite correction, anchorage devices can push back teeth upward into the jawbone (intrusion) by up to 4 millimeters. This changes the angle of the bite plane and allows the lower jaw to rotate slightly forward and upward, reducing both the overbite and the overall length of the lower face. One study found this approach improved overbite by an average of nearly 5 millimeters. The devices are placed under local anesthesia and removed once treatment is complete.
Keeping Your Results: Retainers
Teeth have a strong tendency to drift back toward their original positions after orthodontic treatment, and overbite correction is particularly prone to relapse. Retainers are non-negotiable. You’ll typically wear a removable retainer full-time for the first several months after treatment, then transition to nighttime wear. Many orthodontists also bond a thin wire behind the front teeth as a permanent retainer for added stability.
Fixed retainers bonded behind the teeth have been shown to significantly reduce the likelihood of relapse compared to no retention. Removable retainers on their own haven’t demonstrated the same statistical benefit, which is why many providers recommend using both types together. The specific retainer protocol depends on the severity of your original overbite and your individual risk factors, but plan on wearing some form of retainer indefinitely. Skipping retainer wear is the single most common reason people lose their orthodontic results.
Choosing the Right Approach
For a mild dental overbite in an adult, clear aligners or braces will both work. Choose based on your preference for aesthetics, cost, and how much you trust yourself to wear removable trays consistently. For moderate overbites, braces offer more predictable control, though aligners remain a reasonable option with an experienced provider. For severe or skeletal overbites in adults, the conversation shifts toward braces combined with anchorage devices or jaw surgery.
For children, the timing question matters most. An initial evaluation around age 7 lets an orthodontist monitor jaw growth and intervene early only if there’s a clear reason to. Otherwise, starting comprehensive treatment between ages 11 and 14 captures the peak growth period and keeps total treatment time shorter. Regardless of age or method, expect regular adjustment appointments every 4 to 8 weeks throughout active treatment, and commit to the retainer phase afterward. The correction only lasts if you protect it.