Orthodontics Services
Orthodontics for Children and Teenagers
The best way to determine if your child may benefit from orthodontic treatment is to visit an orthodontist.
The American Association of Orthodontists recommends children visit an orthodontist around the age of seven. At this age, most children have a mix of baby and permanent teeth, and the orthodontist can see how the smile is taking shape.
This is the most ideal time to diagnose and correct jaw growth issues. While most children do not need treatment at this age, only an orthodontist can determine if that is true for your child. If your child does not need phase 1 interceptive treatment, we will tell you and discuss when to see them back to monitor their growth and development.
Early treatment can be more efficient and effective, and reduce the need for tooth extractions or jaw surgery if treatment is put off until later.
If your child did not need phase 1 or did not have the opportunity to see an orthodontist at a young age, it’s not too late.
Comprehensive orthodontic treatment and phase 2 are normally done when all of the permanent teeth have erupted.
However, you should not wait for all of the permanent teeth to grow in before seeing an orthodontist. Oftentimes delayed loss of baby teeth are signs of a more serious problem. When these problems are addressed at the right time they can be fixed more easily and prevent irreversible damage to the teeth, gums, and jaws.
It’s really all about starting treatment at the right time. Dr. Estes will tell you when that is so that your child has the fastest treatment with the best result possible.
Early treatment can be more efficient and effective, and reduce the need for tooth extractions or jaw surgery if treatment is put off until later.
Early treatment allows us to do several things, such as:
- Guide the growth of the jaws to create a more ideal place for the permanent teeth to erupt
- Regulate the width of the arches
- Create space for crowded teeth
- Avoid extractions
- Correct bad habits, such as thumb-sucking
- Improve speech problems and issues with chewing
- Prevent damage to teeth that were sticking out too far
The best way to determine if your child may benefit from orthodontic treatment is to visit an orthodontist. However, there are some things parents can be on the lookout for:
- Early or late loss of the baby teeth
- Problems biting or chewing
- Mouth breathing
- Thumb or finger sucking
- Crowded, misplaced or blocked teeth
- Upper teeth that are far ahead of the lower teeth
- Lower teeth that are in front of the upper teeth
- Jaws that pop or make sounds
- Teeth that fit together abnormally or not at all
- Jaw that is not proportionate the rest of the face
- Front teeth that are crowded at the age of seven or eight.