Trusted Orthodontist for Children and Teens

While getting traditional braces may make your child cringe, the fact is that many kids go through orthodontic treatment, and doing so can not only help with many issues and can also greatly improve your child’s or teen’s self-confidence. Here are some reasons your child may need orthodontic intervention:

• Improper Bite – including crossbite, overbite, underbite, and open bite.
• Crowding – typically caused by early tooth loss, crowding can cause many dental issues – space maintainers and phase 1 can drastically help change the development of these teeth.
• Speech Impediments – depending on how your child’s teeth develop, they may have trouble pronouncing certain sounds. Orthodontic treatment can greatly help them correct their speech.
• Misalignment – whether due to bad dental hygiene, genetics, injury, or something else – teeth can erupt in many different ways. Orthodontic treatment will align the teeth for ultimate comfort which will enhance speech and improve your child’s quality of life.

Interceptive Orthodontics (or Phase I)

It can be a common misconception that only teenagers need orthodontic intervention, however, the sooner a child sees a children’s orthodontics and gets a thorough dental assessment regarding their development, the better success they will have with their overall oral health and the less treatment they may actually need. This is called early orthodontic intervention, or interceptive orthodontics.

What is Interceptive Orthodontics?

It is usually recommended that children see an orthodontist around age 7.  Interceptive Orthodontics (Phase I) typically involves space maintenance and gentle guidance of the teeth into proper placement (even if they haven’t lost all of their baby teeth yet).

By the time they are teenagers (or by age 12), your child should have most of their permanent teeth. If they have gone through Phase I orthodontics, it will be easier to move these adult teeth into proper alignment. Waiting for treatment can result in extensive orthodontic procedures, costly appliances, and a longer treatment time. Older teens may also be good candidates for Invisalign.