Normal overbite is not measured in exact terms, but as a proportion (approximately 30–50% of the height of the mandibular incisors) and is commonly expressed as a percentage.

A person presenting with Class II malocclusion may exhibit excessive overbite as well, or may have the opposite problem, which is referred to as openbite (or apertognathia).

A mild case of open bite can be treated with Invisalign, a popular orthodontic treatment using clear aligners.

[citation needed] American anthropologist C. Loring Brace has brought forth a theory that the human overbite of Europeans is only about 250 years old and was the result of the widespread adoption of the table knife and fork.

Brace also researched the Chinese, who had adopted chopsticks 900 years earlier and found the instances of overbites increased about the same time the new eating method was introduced.