In the specialty of orthodontics, which is the area of dentistry whose objective is to give a perfect occlusion to the teeth (fit) and the optimal alignment of these, the question that arises most frequently is: When to start orthodontic treatment?
Is there the ideal time?
At present, views have been changed about the start of orthodontic treatment since previously it was considered better to wait for the patient’s adolescence at ages between 13 and 15 years depending on the sex of the patient, since in girls this process of development and growth occurs earlier than in boys. Currently this vision has been modified and orthodontic treatments tend to start around the age of 6 which is when the eruption of the first permanent molar takes place, even earlier in cases where the patient needs orthopedic orthodontic treatment.
Orthopedics: (branch of orthodontics), that through orthodontic treatment with removable appliances such as expansion plates that achieve bone remodeling of the patient, which allows the definitive teeth to have the required space to be able to erupt, there are cases that with orthopedics the patient will be able to avoid wearing a fixed appliance phase. Removable appliances are a type of removable appliance. so it is bearable by the child, facilitating feeding and oral hygiene.
Starting orthodontic treatment at an earlier age provides advantages such as that it will allow to correct the problems that the patient presents much more quickly and easily and can avoid future more serious problems, than if it is waited at more advanced ages in which the jaws will not have the facility to be modified especially in those cases when the problem is based on a skeletal alteration. It can be said that we do take children to an orthodontic specialty review consultation at an early age, the orthodontist can take advantage of the growth phase in which the structures are more receptive to changes. It will be possible to obtain results in less time and of an effective nature.
In adolescent or adult patients they do not show changes, and in case of changes they are minimal, so if it is a skeletal alteration, a combination of orthodontic and surgical treatment will be necessary, which will make the process longer and more expensive. In adult or adolescent patients, orthodontic treatment will be with fixed appliances of conventional or lingual brackets. In the case of removable appliances, it will be with invisalign, braces adapted to the patient’s arches, but orthopedics will already provide us with the desired effects.
But when to start orthodontics is conditioned by a series of factors:
- Type of malocclusion that the patient presents.
- Collaboration by the patient and family in case the patient
- Motivation of the patient.
Anyways it is important to monitor the child from an early age to assess the exfoliation of temporary teeth and the eruption of permanent teeth, as well as to be able to diagnose habits such as oral breathing, onychophagia (nail biting) or finger suction, since they should be treated before starting orthodontic treatment to that this is carried out successfully.
At Smile Care Plymouth a first visit will be made with the orthodontist, who will be able to tell us if orthodontic treatment is necessary or not, from this visit in case orthodontics is necessary, a cephalometric and photographic study will be carried out and measurements will be taken of both arches of the mouth in order to establish the best treatment plan.
