What’s the Best Age to Start Orthodontic Treatment?

There are many reasons why millions of parents turn to orthodontics each year to straighten their children’s teeth. Beyond a dazzling smile, braces correct misalignments to help children chew and speak with ease. When, though, is the right time to start?
At Skyline Smiles, board-certified pediatric dentist Dr. Harleen Grewal and her team understand the role that orthodontics can play in a child’s current and future health. We also understand that each case is unique, which is why we offer several different approaches to orthodontics in children.
In the following, we explore some age ranges during which we can improve your child’s dental health through orthodontics.
Traditionally, we waited until all of your child’s adult teeth came in before we outfitted them with braces, but there are some advantages to starting earlier with their baby teeth. Called two-phase orthodontics, through this type of earlier intervention we can:
• Reduce the amount of time they wear braces as an adolescent
• Avoid the need to pull adult teeth
• Correct malocclusion (misalignment in the jaws) during development
• Protect your child’s baby teeth
We want to stress that two-phase orthodontic treatments are not cosmetic, but, rather, play a beneficial role in improving their dental health moving forward.
The typical timeline for two-phase orthodontic treatments starts between the ages of 7 and 9. During this time, we place braces on your child’s teeth for about a year, and then we outfit them with a retainer after we remove the orthodontics. Your child wears the retainer for three years during what we call a “resting phase.” Once your child’s permanent teeth are all in, we then reapply the appropriate orthodontics for another year to 18 months. Please bear in mind that this timeline is just a general rule of thumb, and treatment times can vary.
For more information please call our office at: 661-228-6077.