Early Orthodontics

Straighter Smiles to Combat Bullying?

It’s fairly natural for parents to want their children to have sweet, straight smiles. In fact, studies have found that the reason most parents choose to pursue orthodontic treatment for young children is because of this cosmetic issue, and because they believe that improving the appearance of a child’s smile will lower her risk of being the target of vicious bullies.

Unfortunately, parents could be right. Appearance is a big issue not only in the hallways of high schools nationwide, it’s also an issue on playgrounds. Name brands rule. Right now, “sillyband” bracelets rule. In six months, who knows what trend children will be expected to keep up with in order to fit in with their peers?

So investing in a healthy, gorgeous smile and the well-documented increase in self-confidence that comes with orthodontic treatments is probably not the worst way parents can spend their money.

On the other hand, there are some non-cosmetic issues to take into consideration when seeking early orthodontic treatment for children, including reduction of the total treatment time, to receive the best result, to reduce the need for or in support of speech therapy and to avoid surgical intervention.

There are also several conditions under which an orthodontist may advise early treatment. These include:

Crossbite – This condition happens when teeth are trapped inside lower teeth. Dentists start management of this condition on young patients of between the ages of 8 and 10, even though patients of these ages still have most of the baby teeth.

Deepbite – This occurs when the upper front teeth cover almost all the lower front teeth. This is also caused by severe crowding. Dentists typically begin managing this condition in between the ages of 11 and 12.

Underbite – Underbite refers to the excessive protrusion of the lower jawbone. Because an underbite is a difficult problem to correct, most orthodontists like to see children with this condition as young as 7-8 years of age.