Did you know that we can start treatment for your child as young as age seven? With the first phase of treatment, our team can help guide smile growth to keep smiles even. In today’s blog, your Shirley, NY, pediatric dentist talks about the benefits of phase one orthodontics for children before they reach their teen years.
When Kids Should See the Orthodontist
When you start to notice issues with the alignment of your child’s smile, such as crowded or crooked teeth, we want to conduct an examination. Our team can offer an examination as young as age seven, when there is a mix of primary and permanent teeth, and we can better gauge the risk of misalignment. Our team will carefully examine little smiles with the latest digital imaging technology, so we can conduct a diagnosis with precision and use a fraction of the radiation in the process. In fact, images are available instantly chairside, so we can walk you through the diagnosis! If we find signs of developing misalignment, we can offer treatment to gently guide the smile’s growth and limit the severity over time.
Beginning The Phase One Treatment
Every smile is unique, so we will take a personalized approach to phase one treatment. For some, we may recommend a retainer, which can be fixed in place or removable, and which helps guide the smile’s growth to limit the severity of misalignment before your child enters his or her teen years. If primary teeth have been lost early, we want to prevent the teeth from shifting and impacting how permanent teeth erupt, so we could offer a space maintainer to keep the area open and allow the permanent teeth to arrive without complication. Again, this can be fixed in place or removeable.
What Happens Next?
Phase one is typically from the ages of seven to around 11 or 12. Once your child is a teenager, we can begin the second and final phase of treatment, in which we use braces or possibly even clear aligners to finish shifting the teeth into final positions, so your little one starts their late teens and early adulthood with an even and healthier smile. Our team may discuss oral appliances to wear to ensure the results stay in place. If you have any questions about how our team will conduct orthodontic treatment for little smiles, or if you would like to schedule a visit for your child, then contact our team today to learn more.
Schedule Your Child’s Appointment Today
Call Shirley Orthodontics and Pediatrics in Shirley, NY, at 631.399.1600 to book a consultation to learn more about our children’s orthodontic treatments. We can help kids of all ages, as well as teens and adults, obtain an even and healthy smile with our orthodontic treatment options!
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