The American Association of Orthodontists recommends all children have an orthodontic evaluation by age seven. This is the time when there are still several baby teeth present, but jaw alignment, oral habits, and emerging permanent teeth may be signaling the need for early
interceptive treatment. In either case, an early exam allows us to evaluate orthodontic problems so that we recommend the ideal time and strategy to address these issues – even if it means waiting several years to treat. Most of these exams don’t need interceptive treatment, but if they do, early treatments tend to be simple, short, and have a very targeted objective.
Reasons For Early Treatment
- This may be the only age when we can achieve certain types of jaw growth issues, i.e. upper jaw constriction, underbite jaw relationships, etc.
- An early intervention may be needed to protect teeth from damage while we are waiting for all permanent teeth to arrive for a comprehensive correction, i.e. protruding teeth, teeth in crossbite, teeth contacting incorrectly, etc.
- A simple appliance may preserve space to avoid permanent tooth extractions.
- Eliminating harmful oral habits may be necessary to prevent complicated corrections when patients are older.
- Guide teeth into patient’s mouths so that they do not get stuck in the jaws (impacted) or so badly displaced that irreversible gums conditions develop.
Underbite:
The lower teeth are too far forward and can even contact the outside of the upper teeth.
Crossbite:
The upper jaw is too narrow compared to the lower jaw
Deepbite:
Front teeth overlap too much vertically and bite into gum tissue
Excessive crowding:
There is not enough room for all the permanent teeth, so some get blocked out, pushed into dangerous positions, and/or asymmetries develop
Permanent tooth unable to surface:
Permanent teeth can veer off course and get stuck under baby teeth
Protrusion:
Top teeth stick out too far
Openbite:
Teeth do not contact in the front
Abnormal dental development sequence:
Teeth are expected to arrive in a specific sequence. An aberration in that sequence can be indicative of a problem.
