Early orthodontic treatment, also known as early intervention or interceptive orthodontics, refers to orthodontic care for children aged from 7 years to 10 years old. From 7 years onwards, your orthodontist can identify any developing orthodontic issues. Early treatment can simplify or reduce the need for more extensive treatment in teenage years, such as comprehensive braces, adult teeth extractions and even surgery.
Establishing functional bites at a young age creates a foundation for your child’s dental growth and development. This may simplify and shorten the overall treatment required in their teenage years.
Common early orthodontic problems include:
- Spacing
- Crowding
- Crossbites
- Underbites
- Functional shift
- Extra or missing teeth
- Open bites
- Excessive overjet/overbite
At Peninsula Orthodontics, we offer a range of early treatment options to address these common early orthodontic problems. These treatment options include:
- Braces: One of the most common orthodontic treatments, traditional braces create space for the eruption of adult teeth and align crooked teeth.
- Expanders: This treatment is used to widen a narrow upper jaw, creating more space for teeth and used to correct crossbites.
- Space Maintainers: Space maintainers are used to hold space for permanent teeth if a patient’s baby teeth are lost prematurely.
- Clear Aligners: An aesthetic alternative to traditional braces, clear aligners help with alignment issues and bite correction.
- Removable Plates: Like braces and clear aligners, removable plates are also used for bite corrections. However, they can also assist with single-tooth corrections and the reduction of any gum and tooth damage caused by deep overbites.
- Lingual Holding Arches: If a baby molar is lost early, this style of treatment is useful for maintaining space.