The central and lateral incisors are the front-most four teeth on the upper and lower jaw. The central incisors are large and flat while the lateral incisors are quite smaller but have a similar shape. Both types of incisors help grab onto the food you're trying to chew. If the incisors become crowded or overlap due to eruption problems or jawbone issues, you can suffer severe chewing difficulties and cosmetic embarrassment.

There are a few different treatments for dental crowding around the incisors. The proper treatment depends on the nature of the crowding.  

Clear Braces

Orthodontics can often correct crowded incisors that are out of place due to slight errors in eruption positions. Both metal or clear braces are possible, but the clear braces like Invisalign offer a more low-key treatment option that can steer attention away from the crowded teeth.

The clear braces are trays similar to those used in whitening. You might receive only one tray for the jaw half with the crowded teeth or receive both an upper and lower tray if you have other bite issues that need correcting. The trays slip firmly over your natural teeth and put a constant, noticeable but not painful, pressure on the teeth to force the crowded teeth towards proper positioning.

You will have to visit the orthodontist from time to time to receive new trays created based on the current progress. This process will continue until the crowding is corrected.

Tooth Removal

Dental crowding sometimes occurs due to one abnormal tooth that is either so far out of place that orthodontics can't help or a spare incisor that erupted as an abnormality. Either of these cases might require the dentist to remove or extract the offending tooth so that the remaining incisors can move back into proper position.

Sometimes removing that one tooth will leave the others already in the right spot. But you might also need to undergo follow-up orthodontics to correct the positioning of the remaining incisors.

Jaw Surgery

Sometimes the jaw, not the teeth, was the cause of the crowding problem. If the jawbone is out of position in certain areas, the overlying teeth can shift or lean out of position and cross over the neighbors.

Your dentist will perform jaw surgery to adjust the bone as needed to make your incisors come as close as possible to the proper position. You might still need to undergo orthodontic treatment, but now the clear braces will have a better chance of working.