10 Conditions Diagnosed and Treated at Bold Bite Orthodontics
Crooked teeth are a symptom, not a diagnosis. The underlying cause might be jaw size, jaw position, tongue posture, airway restriction, a persistent childhood habit, or a combination. Click any condition below to read how Dr. Greenberg and Dr. Cao diagnose the cause, which severity level fits, and which treatment path is recommended.
Crowding
Overlapping or crooked teeth caused by insufficient jaw space. The most common reason families start orthodontic treatment, and the condition most likely to worsen with age.
Causes, severity & treatment →
Overbite (Deep Bite)
Upper front teeth overlap the lower teeth too much, sometimes biting into the gum tissue. Can be a jaw-size problem, a tooth-position problem, or both.
Causes, severity & treatment →
Underbite
Lower jaw extends forward of the upper jaw. Early intervention around age 7 to 9 produces the best skeletal correction. Adults with severe cases may need surgical planning.
Causes, severity & treatment →
Open Bite
Front teeth do not touch when the back teeth are closed. Often driven by tongue posture, thumb habits, or skeletal growth patterns. Carries one of the highest relapse rates when the underlying cause is not addressed.
Causes, severity & treatment →
Crossbite
Upper teeth sit inside the lower teeth on one or both sides. Left untreated, the jaw shifts to compensate, producing asymmetric growth, uneven wear, and TMJ strain.
Causes, severity & treatment →
Spacing & Gaps
Extra space between teeth from missing teeth, small teeth, or a jaw-to-tooth size mismatch. Ranges from a cosmetic concern to a functional bite problem depending on the cause.
Causes, severity & treatment →
TMJ & Jaw Pain
Jaw pain, clicking, locking, and tension headaches. Evaluated with CBCT imaging and bite analysis before deciding whether orthodontics, a splint, or a referral is the right next step.
Diagnosis & treatment →
Mouth Breathing
Chronic mouth breathing alters jaw and facial development, leading to crowded teeth, a narrow palate, and sleep issues. Roughly 80% of jaw growth is complete by age 7, so early screening matters.
Causes, airway & treatment →
Tongue Thrust
The tongue pushes forward against the front teeth during swallowing and rest. Causes and sustains open bites. Corrected with a myofunctional exercise protocol alongside orthodontic treatment.
Exercises & treatment →
Impacted Canine
Permanent canine trapped in the jawbone. Requires CBCT diagnosis and coordinated surgical exposure with the periodontist or oral surgeon, then guided eruption into the arch.
Diagnosis, surgery & treatment →
Not sure which condition you have?
Many patients have more than one condition at the same time. Crowding and a crossbite often travel together; an open bite and a tongue thrust almost always do. The Vatech Green CBCT scan included free with every consultation shows jaw relationships, root positions, airway volume, and unerupted teeth in three dimensions, so Dr. Greenberg and Dr. Cao identify every issue in one visit rather than discovering a second problem halfway through treatment.
Why Early Evaluation Matters
The American Association of Orthodontists recommends a first evaluation by age 7. Bold Bite Orthodontics supports that timeline for awareness — a child who can sit still for a CBCT and iTero scan gives the practice a solid diagnostic baseline — while keeping a deliberately conservative posture on when to start treatment. Of the hundreds of pediatric referrals Bold Bite receives each year, roughly 75% are placed on a growth-monitoring recall rather than started immediately. Early intervention is recommended only when not intervening would create a larger problem later.
The conditions that benefit most from age-7 to age-9 intervention are the ones driven by skeletal growth or airway: a functional shift of the jaw to one side, a multi-tooth crossbite, a developing underbite, a very narrow palate, severe crowding with erupting permanent teeth, or moderate-to-severe retrognathia. Airway restriction — often showing up as chronic mouth breathing, restless sleep, or enlarged adenoids and tonsils — is screened at every Bold Bite consultation, including CBCT airway volume analysis with AI assistance and close coordination with Jacksonville-area pediatric ENTs and allergists.
For adults, identifying the root cause matters just as much. Many adults arrive believing they need braces for crooked front teeth when the real issue is a skeletal discrepancy, TMJ dysfunction, or sleep-related airway compromise that changes the treatment plan entirely. The diagnostic protocol is the same for every age — imaging, scan, clinical evaluation, plain-language explanation — because the goal is to treat the cause, not the appearance.
How Bold Bite Orthodontics Approaches These Conditions
Diagnosis drives treatment. Two bites that look the same to a patient can need completely different mechanics. Dr. Greenberg and Dr. Cao rely on three clinical principles across every condition on the list above.
Match the mechanics to the cause, not the label
Open bites illustrate the principle. Dr. Cao and Dr. Greenberg typically treat open bites with Angel Aligners using anterior extrusion combined with posterior intrusion — a sequence that closes the bite without the expander-plus-fixed-braces burden that used to be standard. That approach only works when the diagnosis rules out a purely skeletal open bite, which is where CBCT imaging earns its place. A case that looks identical from the front can need completely different mechanics once the jaw geometry is measured in three dimensions.
Treat the whole mouth, not just the alignment
Dr. Greenberg practiced general dentistry for more than eight years before specializing, and that background drives how Bold Bite plans every case. Orthodontic decisions are made in the context of long-term function: restorative implications, wear patterns, periodontal risk, caries risk during treatment, and occlusal stability after the appliances come off. The practice is more likely than most to delay or decline treatment when restraint is the right call, and more likely to coordinate directly with a patient's general dentist or periodontist when the whole-mouth plan needs more than one specialty.
Coordinate with specialists when the condition requires it
Impacted canines are the clearest example. Bold Bite handles the orthodontic side of exposure cases — bracket placement, gold-chain traction, guided eruption — and partners with Dr. Doug Stortch at Modern Perio for surgical exposure, with oral surgery available as a backup. Palatally impacted canines are typically managed with an open exposure; facially impacted canines are managed with closed exposure and a gold chain or IsoGlide attachment. Exposure cases usually add six to eight months to treatment, and Bold Bite sets that timeline expectation up front rather than discovering it mid-case.
Diagnostic Workflow
Every new-patient consultation at Bold Bite Orthodontics follows the same sequence so nothing is missed, regardless of the reason the family came in.
Shows jaw relationships, root positions, airway volume, unerupted and impacted teeth, and sinus anatomy in three dimensions. Bold Bite uses AI-assisted review to flag abnormal airway, sinus, or adenoid findings that belong in front of a pediatric ENT or allergist before orthodontic treatment starts. The scan is the imaging standard for distinguishing a skeletal cause from a dental cause when two bites look the same from the outside.
A digital 3D model of the teeth and soft tissue used for treatment planning and aligner setups. No gooey impressions. The iTero scan integrates directly with the Angel Aligners and Invisalign treatment software and pairs with the Vatech CBCT data so every aligner plan is built on the full 3D anatomy, not just an impression of the visible crowns.
Every new-patient consultation is conducted by an orthodontist, not a treatment coordinator with a follow-up doctor visit later. Dr. Greenberg (DMD, MS — ABO Board Eligible, clinical exam scheduled Fall 2026) and Dr. Cao (DMD, CAGS — ABO Board-Certified Diplomate with 15+ years of experience) share every case; the husband-and-wife team means two specialist opinions on the same file before a treatment plan is finalized.
Patients see the CBCT and iTero results on-screen and hear the diagnosis explained in plain language: which condition was found, which condition was ruled out, which treatment options fit, and which option the practice recommends and why. No same-day contract is required. Families leave with a written summary, a timeline estimate, and a price range — ready to compare Bold Bite against another office if they choose to.
*For new patients only. Patients in treatment $100, deductible from comprehensive treatment fee.
Treatment Options by Condition
Most conditions on this list can be treated with more than one approach. Bold Bite Orthodontics selects the least-invasive effective option and documents why it was chosen. The tiles below summarize which tools match which problems, a full treatment plan is built after diagnostic records.
Self-Ligating Braces
Metal or clear ceramic brackets. First line for severe crowding, significant rotations, deep impinging bites, and cases where hygiene favors a fixed appliance. Braces options →
Angel Aligners
Bold Bite's primary aligner platform. Often faster tracking and lower total cost than Invisalign on mild-to-moderate adult and teen cases, including many open-bite corrections. Angel Aligners →
Invisalign
Clear aligner treatment using the ClinCheck platform. Offered for patients who prefer the Invisalign system or whose case geometry is a better fit. Invisalign →
Early / Phase 1 Treatment
Recommended for crossbites, underbites, functional shifts, very narrow palates, and airway-driven growth concerns — not routinely for crowding that growth will likely resolve. Children's orthodontics →
Myofunctional Exercises
Tongue-posture and swallowing retraining for tongue thrust, open bite, and mouth-breathing cases. Paired with orthodontic treatment so the correction holds after the appliances come off.
Surgical Orthodontics
For skeletal underbites, severe overjet, and airway-driven cases that cannot be camouflaged. Bold Bite does the pre- and post-surgical orthodontics and coordinates directly with the oral and maxillofacial surgeon. Surgical orthodontics →
Surgical Exposure (Impacted Canines)
Coordinated care with Dr. Doug Stortch at Modern Perio or an oral surgeon. Bold Bite does bracket placement, traction, and guided eruption. Typically adds 6 to 8 months to treatment.
TMJ / Bite Splints
Splint therapy and bite analysis when the joint is the pain driver. Orthodontic treatment is added only when it will genuinely help, not as a default.
What Jacksonville Families Say
Dr. Greenberg took the time to explain exactly what was going on with our daughter's crossbite, walked us through the 3D scan, and recommended we wait six months to re-evaluate rather than starting treatment right away. No pressure, no sales pitch. Rare to find that in a specialist office.
Jacksonville Beach parent — pediatric consult
Came in for an open bite I had lived with for 20 years and assumed needed surgery. Dr. Cao mapped out an aligner plan that actually worked. The office is calm, the technology is modern, and both doctors see every patient at every visit.
Adult Angel Aligners patient — open bite
My son's impacted canine was flagged on the first scan. Bold Bite coordinated the whole process with the periodontist, kept us updated through the Grin Scope remote monitoring app between visits, and the tooth is now in the arch. the clinical team made a stressful situation feel routine.
Ponte Vedra parent — impacted canine case