If your children, even those as young as age seven, start to display uneven or crowded teeth, then consider an appointment. To help correct misalignment and guide smile growth, we can treat young kids with interceptive orthodontics, also known as Phase One treatment. In today’s blog, your Riverside Dental Group team talks about helping kids with interceptive orthodontics.
Starting Treatment for Little Smiles
Our team will take a close look at your child’s smile with digital x-rays and intraoral cameras, so we can assess the position of the teeth, and the position of their roots and the jawbone itself. We want to understand the cause of their poor alignment, and the possible risks for the smile. We can then create a treatment plan. At age seven, there is a mix of baby teeth and permanent ones, which is the perfect time to start assisting the growth of the smile with interceptive orthodontics. With the proper treatment, we can help expand the jaw, guide the eruption of the teeth, and provide the space needed to ensure permanent teeth can arrive without complication. This helps limit how much time is needed for the second phase of treatment in the teen years.
Phase One Orthodontics
If a child loses a baby tooth early, then the nearby teeth could drift and this could impact how permanent teeth arrive. To keep the space open and clear for eruption, we could provide a space maintainer, which is affixed to a nearby tooth and keeps the space open.
We could also custom-fit a retainer for kids, an appliance that is fixed in place or removable, and when worn helps guide the growth of the jaw and guide the position of the teeth as needed. We will provide detailed instructions to help care for the appliance and protect the smile during treatment.
A Glimpse at Phase Two
What happens once phase one is complete? When the permanent teeth have all erupted and properly calcified, then we can move on to the second step, the final phase of their treatment. For some, we could offer traditional braces or possibly Invisalign® aligners to help shift the teeth the rest of the way, so kids obtain even smiles. If you have any questions about phase one orthodontics, then contact our team today.
Riverside Dental Group Offers Comprehensive Orthodontics
Interceptive options provide even smiles for kids as young as seven. To learn more about our treatments for little smiles, then please call:
Riverside Dental Group at Magnolia in Riverside, CA at (951) 689-5031.
Dental Associates of Moreno Valley in Moreno Valley, CA at (951) 697-6800.
Riverside Dental Group at Woodcrest (951) 776-9001.
Oasis Family Dental in Temecula, CA at (951) 695-2290.
Dental Associates of Riverside in Riverside, CA at (951) 369-1001.
Dental Associates of Corona in Corona, CA at (951) 273-9580.
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