Early care can prevent serious issues later requiring invasive treatment. The American Association of Orthodontists recommends that children visit the orthodontist around age seven.
Why Age Seven?
By age seven, most children have a mix of baby and permanent teeth. This makes it easier to diagnose and correct tooth and jaw problems. Doing so can help avoid invasive and costly procedures later, like surgery. Orthodontist receive special training to spot potential issues and identify the best time in your child's growth to begin treatment.
Phase-1 Treatment Can Help
Starting early treatment allows the opportunity to recognize potential problems and correct them before they become more serious. This saves not only you and your child time but also money.
Early interceptive orthodontic treatment has proven beneficial for the overall desired result. Because a young child’s permanent teeth have not finished erupting, we can thoroughly evaluate the front-to-back and side-to-side tooth relationships and address any impending problems at their earliest stage.
Most children lose all their baby teeth by age 13, and by the end of their teen years, the jaw bones stop growing. Orthodontic procedures for adults often take more time and can involve tooth extraction or oral surgery. Receiving early orthodontic treatment as a child can reduce the need for more invasive procedures.
If your child is between the ages of seven and eight, please schedule an appointment. We’ll do an initial exam and discuss the best steps to take toward caring for your child's smile.
It's All About Timing
At Sandy Smiles Orthodontics, we don't believe in rushing your child into treatment unnecessarily. Growth and development phases, especially in kids can have a big impact on orthodontic treatment. In some instances a child may grow out of what might seem like an orthodontic problem. Other times, we can take advantage of natural skeletal and dental development to choose the most optimal, least invasive time to correct orthodontic problems. Dr. Zwickel received special training to be able to monitor your childs development and determine if and when the best time to pursue treatment is.
Common concerns that indicate your child needs to see an orthodontist:
-
Early or late loss of baby teeth
-
Difficulty biting or chewing food
-
Regular mouth breathing
-
Finger or thumb sucking
-
Crowded front teeth, or other crowded, poorly positioned, or blocked teeth
-
Upper and lower teeth that come together abnormally or don’t come together at all
-
Jaws that pop when opening and closing
-
Jaws and teeth that are not proportionate to the rest of the face