Inability to close mouth or chew properly, overgrown teeth

• A. Occlusion
• B. Overbite
• C. Malocclusion
• D. Malalignment

Answer: (C)

Malocclusion refers to the misalignment of teeth or an abnormal bite when the jaws close. This misalignment can make it hard to bring the teeth together to chew and can contribute to teeth growing in ways that crowd or overgrow, since the teeth aren’t meeting in the proper relationship. Occlusion is the study or description of how the teeth should meet in a normal bite, but the problem described is the abnormal relationship itself, which is malocclusion. Overbite describes a specific vertical overlap of front teeth and is just one aspect of malocclusion, not the overall issue. Malalignment is close in meaning, but malocclusion is the standard clinical term used to denote misaligned teeth and bite. That’s why the best answer is malocclusion.