Many young children exhibit early signs of jaw and bite problems. In order to modify and correct these potentially negative dental growth patterns, we “set the stage” in Phase I and complete treatment in Phase II. In this way, while the child’s jaws are rapidly growing, we can guide jaw growth and tooth eruption towards a stable, healthy and attractive result.
Although most orthodontic problems are best treated with traditional braces, some problems need to be treated as soon as they are noticed, no matter how young a child is.
Early orthodontic treatment is effective and desirable in certain situations. Some of the problems which do require early orthodontic treatment include:
• A crossbite of the back or front teeth.
• An extremely narrow upper and/or lower dental arch.
• Inadequate growth and development of the upper and/or lower jaw.
• Severe crowding or tipping of teeth which prevents the normal eruption of adult teeth.
• A six-year molar which cannot erupt because it is caught underneath a baby tooth (ectopic eruption).
• Adult front teeth which are protruding excessively, and are therefore in danger of being hit or traumatized.
• An adult tooth which is erupting in the wrong direction.
• A front tooth having a very receeded gum line due to its unfavorable position in the arch.
• A child with a cleft palate.
• A child with a thumb or finger habit.
• Front teeth that do not overlap properly (deepbite or openbite)
