Why Early Orthodontic Intervention is Important

We’re all used to seeing pre-teens and teenagers wearing braces, but did you know that children can get started with orthodontic treatment before they get braces? In fact, in some cases, early orthodontic intervention might mean your child won’t need braces at all! Either way, orthodontic treatment started early has tremendous benefits for your child’s oral health.

What Is Early Orthodontic Intervention?

Early orthodontic intervention, sometimes called “interceptive” treatment, is orthodontic treatment that is performed before all the permanent teeth come in. This typically means that a child’s baby teeth are still present during the early orthodontic intervention.

Why Is Early Orthodontic Intervention Important for Oral Health?

Early orthodontic intervention or “interceptive” treatment can actually impact your child’s health in a positive way sooner than later. This is because once a child starts losing baby teeth, permanent teeth can come in misaligned without treatment. This can lead to problems with chewing, speaking clearly, or even sleeping, because misaligned teeth can create breathing problems. Early orthodontic intervention is exceptionally helpful in not only correcting these problems, but possibly avoiding them altogether.

What Are the Benefits of Early Orthodontic Intervention and Treatment?

The benefits of early orthodontic intervention are many. First, when permanent teeth first come in, they are much easier to adjust. Yes, you can wait and even correct crooked teeth as an adult, but catching problems before they start is always better if possible.

For example, we can often use special spacers to make sure that incoming permanent teeth have enough room to sprout, which means they can be straight from the get-go and not need later correction with braces or Invisalign.

What Conditions Can Early Orthodontic Treatment Improve?

Early orthodontic treatment can prevent, mitigate, or improve issues such as:

Crowding of teeth
Crooked teeth
Large gaps between teeth
Bite problems such as overbites, underbites, and open bites

This interceptive treatment may then enable your child to speak more clearly, sleep better, and chew their food without any problems.

When Should I First Bring My Child to the Orthodontist?

Most orthodontic associations recommend that a child should have their first visit with an orthodontist by the age of 7, and earlier if you notice a definitive problem. (Of course, if you are visiting the dentist twice yearly, then you will also be guided to early orthodontic treatment for your child if needed.) The age of 7 is a great age to evaluate a child for orthodontic treatment because the child should have some permanent teeth already or at least on the way, which helps the orthodontist get a really good picture of what’s going on with the mouth.

What Are the Typical Outcomes of a First Visit to the Orthodontist?

When you first bring your child to our Long Beach orthodontist office in Southern California, we often have the following outcomes of the visit:

First, we may find that no orthodontic treatment is necessary at this point, and we will “watch and wait” to see if any treatment might be needed in the future. Some children never need orthodontic treatment and may live their entire lives without having to deal with braces. We hope your child is one of the lucky ones, but if not, we are here to help them, of course.

Second, we may find that no current problem exists that needs early treatment or intervention, but we might see some signs that indicate orthodontic treatment will probably be needed in the future. Some orthodontic treatments such as braces are also best deployed after all the permanent teeth come in. In this case, we will discuss with you when and what that might be, and schedule regular appointments to track your child’s progress.

Third, we may find an issue where early intervention and treatment can help. If this is the case, we will discuss the problem with you and what our recommendations are. Our goal in early interceptive treatment is to arrest the developing problem and eliminate the cause if possible.

What Kinds of Orthodontic Problems With Baby Teeth Can Be Treated?

As mentioned, some orthodontic treatments such as braces need to wait until the permanent teeth come in. But we can also safely employ certain types of early orthodontic treatment while a child still has some baby teeth. Issues we can potentially treat early via interceptive treatment include:

Spacing issues between teeth (aka too crowded or spaced too far apart)
Wrong number of teeth (too many or not enough)
Bite issues such as underbites (lower teeth are in front of the upper teeth) and crossbites (where the top and bottom teeth have shifted left or right in relation to each other)
Bad habits such as thumb sucking or tongue thrusting that could be negatively impacting the development of the teeth

What Types of Early Orthodontic Treatments Are Available?

At Orthodontics of Long Beach, we offer many highly effective early orthodontic treatments that are safe and non-toxic. We might use an orthodontic appliance such as a fixed or removable retainer to help guide the teeth into the correct position, although for younger children we are probably more likely to use spacers to provide room for teeth to grow in.

On occasion, we might extract one or more of the baby teeth to help the permanent teeth grow in. In some cases, a permanet tooth may be having a difficult time erupting, in which case, we can perform a procedure to help the tooth along.

For some children, we may recommend a habit breaking appliance to stop problems like thumb sucking.

We will discuss any potential treatment options with you as well as any pros and cons if applicable.

Overall, you will find our early orthodontic intervention in Long Beach to be cost-effective and helpful. In many cases it could lessen or completely remove the need for orthodontic treatments such as braces in the future. In the least, if your child does need braces in the future, they may need to wear those braces for a shorter period of time, which will make them happy as well as you.

Early Orthodontic Treatment in Long Beach, California

As you can see, early orthodontic treatment for children has many benefits. By getting started early with orthodontic treatments in Long Beach, your child will have a strong foundation for lifelong oral health.

In getting your child started with orthodontic treatment, you want a qualified orthodontist who offers the skills, knowledge, and experience to offer the best in orthodontic care. Orthodontics of Long Beach provides that confidence with our amazing orthodontic team, which is wholeheartedly committed to helping put a beautiful smile on your child’s face!

Enhance Your Smile With Orthodontic Treatment in Long Beach

Looking for a qualified orthodontist for your child in Long Beach or near the South Bay? Contact Orthodontics of Long Beach for a consultation. We can help get your child on the right path to oral health!