Most parents don’t know that they should get their first orthodontic consultation at age 7.
Many are confused when I tell them this because their child still has a lot of baby teeth.
TWELVE. But from the ages of 7-10, so much growth is occurring, and sutures are fusing. So, if we wait until all the baby teeth fall out to start treatment, our treatment options will be limited. Early treatment allows for larger orthopaedic changes over a shorter period. Let’s give some examples.
Facemask Therapy:
We use a Facemask (protraction headgear) for children that have a deficient upper jaw (maxilla). We can physically bring the upper jaw forward before the craniofacial sutures fuse (ages 9-10) and prevent possible orthognathic surgery in the future or extractions to camouflage a bone discrepancy.
RPE (Rapid Palatal Expander):
The upper jaw is also made up of two bones joined by a mid-palatal suture that closes around 12-15 years of age but starts to intertwine around 9+ years making expansion difficult in the latter years. We expand the top jaw if the child has a crossbite (meaning the bottom teeth overlap the top teeth instead of the opposite) or if there is severe crowding and we need more bone for adult teeth to erupt into.
You can see now that some therapy options are no longer possible at the age of 12 or have a limited prognosis.
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