The American Association of Orthodontists, and various other world-wide orthodontic groups, recommends that a child have their very first orthodontic assessment before age seven, or perhaps sooner if there are obvious signs of an orthodontic condition.
A few examples of detectable orthodontic conditions include biting, chewing or speech difficulties, pacifier or finger sucking habits that continues past six years of age, protruding front teeth, tooth spacing or crowding conditions, early release of baby teeth, persistent mouth breathing, painful or sore jaw joints, misplaced or excess teeth, a weak or prominent chin or other facial disproportion. Even though your child does not show any of these doesn't mean they doesn't have orthodontic conditions. You'll find many issues that can occur even if their front teeth look aligned, while a few of these evident conditions, which may look daunting and complicated, will resolve on their own.
Phase I, also known as interceptive treatment, will usually begin when your child still has a majority of his / her baby teeth and perhaps a few of the permanent front incisors. This typically takes place around age seven and is referred to as early mixed dentition. The purpose of interceptive treatment is to keep room within the dental arches for your childs permanent teeth and to help the upper and lower jaws relate to each other correctly. This orthodontic treatment may require nothing more elaborate than a retainer like device, used to guide the existing teeth into the ideal position to ensure permanent teeth can come in correctly, or it may call for extraction of certain baby teeth to allow adequate room for adult teeth.
Interceptive orthodontic treatment could also include the variety of orthodontic treatments. The timing and methods used will be determined by your child's specific orthodontic situation and distinct disposition. Proactive orthodontic treatment benefits from a child's growth, using it to make a challenging problem into a more workable one. Waiting until their baby teeth have popped out and permanent teeth have erupted or until jaw growth is nearly finished could make solving some problems more difficult. Leaving some conditions unattended, such as a misalignment of the upper and lower jaws, could result in a malocclusion too severe for braces alone to treat.
However, not all bite abnormalities require early intervention. Many can solve themselves effortlessly or can wait until most of the permanent teeth have erupted. Only your orthodontist can determine which conditions require immediate intervention, which may be treated easier at a later time, and those that can be left to nature. That is why it truly is very important that your child has an orthodontic examination at an early age. That way, you have the option of commencing treatment when it will benefit your child the most. The important fact to keep in mind is that the final result of proactive interceptive treatment will be a more consistent orthodontic situation and a beautiful, well balanced profile. The advantage for your child is enormous.
Phase II treatment is the last stage of orthodontic treatment for children. Not every child will require Phase II orthodontic treatment but nearly all orthodontists will tell you to be expecting it. If your child doesn't demand it, you should be very happy! If your child does need more orthodontic treatment and you were not told to be expecting it, you are more likely to be very unhappy. It's also crucial that you remember: Phase II treatment is not used to "redo" any corrections which were made during Phase I treatment. Normally, a patient will have around sixteen new adult (permanent) teeth erupt (grow in their mouth) after Phase I treatment concludes. This does not include the third molars or wisdom teeth.
Occasionally nature gets it perfect to almost right. Sometimes she does not and additional treatment is needed. It is very hard to get a parent to understand this as most feel their children need "2 sets of braces" and the orthodontist should have waited. This really is not always the case.
During the orthodontic consultation, ask the questions for which you feel need answers. If at all possible, schedule a consultation with your doctor and treatment coordinator to help get any complications resolved. Any office should be happy to do this for you.
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For the best Knoxville orthodontics please Hardin Valley Orthodontics and for the best Maryville orthodontics please visit Eberting Orthodontics.
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