This child had a very bad overbite.  These type of problems can be caused by an improper swallowing of the tongue, can be aggravated by a thumb sucking habit and can be influenced by heredity.  In this patient's case, she also suffered from a lower jaw that was greatly behind in development in relation to her upper jaw.  We used a retainer-like appliance called a bionator for this patient at an early age.  This appliance not only stimulates the growth of the lower jaw to place it more in line with the upper jaw, but it also works on muscle function to help keep the result stable over many years.  It is important to use these appliances during the growing years or the results will not last.  This patient wore her appliance for approximately a year of active treatment, and now has a happy smile to show for her good efforts.