Can Rabbit Teeth Be Corrected? 5-Month Real Case of Butterfly Teeth Anterior Partial Orthodontic Treatment

Hello, this is Apgujeong Yonsei Baro Dental Clinic.

The two front teeth are large and protrude forward, so

“It's like rabbit teeth…”

“My front teeth show too much when I smile.”

“I just want to fix the front teeth a little, but do I need full orthodontic treatment?”

Many people visit us with these concerns.

Today,

we will introduce a real case in which rabbit teeth / butterfly teeth were improved with partial orthodontic treatment on just the six upper front teeth.

24.01~24.06

Front-teeth orthodontics and partial orthodontics often require treating both the upper and lower teeth together because of bite-related issues.

However, there are exceptions.

What if the gap between the upper and lower teeth is large, so there are no areas where they collide?

In other words, if they do not affect each other, sometimes only the upper teeth or only the lower teeth are treated.

Today, I will show a case where only the six upper front teeth were partially corrected without touching the lower teeth.

Rabbit teeth correction, butterfly teeth anterior partial orthodontic treatment

Q. What are rabbit teeth and butterfly teeth?

A. They are not official medical terms, but they usually refer to a condition like this:

The two front teeth are relatively large

They extend downward

They protrude forward

They appear more prominent because they are rotated

👉 Because of this appearance,

people also call them rabbit teeth or butterfly teeth.

This patient came in saying they wanted to fix their rabbit teeth.

As you can see, the teeth are rotated outward.

Because the front teeth protrude, the rabbit-teeth appearance looks even more pronounced.

The lower teeth were not aligned, but the patient did not want separate treatment for them.

Fortunately, the gap between the upper and lower teeth was large, so treating only the upper teeth would not create any bite problems.

We decided to solve only the rabbit-teeth appearance with partial orthodontic treatment using MTA on the six front teeth from canine to canine on the upper arch.

There are no mid-treatment photos for this patient either, so there is no photo showing the appliance attached.

Partial orthodontic treatment for the front teeth finishes so quickly that there is hardly time to take mid-treatment photos.

You may be wondering what the MTA orthodontic appliance looks like, so

I will show you a photo of another patient’s MTA mini-tube orthodontic treatment.

It looks like this.

This is the photo of the treatment finally completed after the initial consultation in January and the orthodontic treatment that followed.

24.01~24.06

The treatment period was 5 months.

24.01~24.06

24.01~24.06

The protruding front teeth happened to be relatively large,

so we used interproximal reduction to create space while also reducing their size, then moved them backward.

24.01~24.06

24.01~24.06

Rabbit teeth are a simple and easy condition to treat with orthodontics.

That also means the treatment period is short.

It is not a complex orthodontic case that takes 1–2 years, and especially since treatment on only the upper arch is possible, we recommend consulting a nearby orthodontic clinic about rabbit-teeth correction and butterfly-teeth anterior partial orthodontic treatment.

✔ Rabbit teeth = a condition where the front teeth are large and protrude, making them look prominent

✔ Not every case requires full orthodontic treatment

✔ This case involved partial orthodontic treatment of 6 upper teeth

✔ Treatment period: 5 months

✔ Space was secured through interproximal reduction, then the front teeth were moved backward

✔ Fast treatment with a high level of satisfaction is possible

If you are worried about how your smile looks because of your front teeth,

full orthodontic treatment for 2 years is not the only answer.

Depending on the condition of your teeth,

short-term partial orthodontic treatment for the front teeth is also possible.

If you are concerned about rabbit teeth or butterfly teeth,

please get an accurate consultation at a nearby orthodontic clinic.

Thank you.