Timing of treatment

There is a difference between optimum timing of orthodontic treatment, and optimum timing of orthodontic assessment.  Without a doubt, the best time for orthodontic treatment is early adolescence - when all the baby teeth have been lost.  In most children this is between 11 and 13 years of age.

Some children, however, require orthodontic intervention much earlier.  Instances where baby teeth have been lost prematurely, or abnormal development of the teeth or jaws require treatment long before the optimum time of 11-13 because early treatments rely on normal growth and development of the face and teeth to allow easy correction of large problems.  In these instances, if we wait until all baby teeth have been lost, often the opportunity for easy correction is also lost, because the potential for growth is diminished.  In fact, in some instances, the physical growth of the face is long completed before all the baby teeth have been lost.

Abnormal development of permanent teeth is also something that if assessed early can be easily corrected.  The upper
permanent eyeteeth (canines) are notorious for incorrect development.  What is even more alarming is that a large number of patients with abnormally positioned canines usually have no indication of problems in the mouth as all baby teeth and permanent teeth look normal until it is time for the eyeteeth to erupt - and sometimes the failure of the eyeteeth to erupt is not diagnosed well into adulthood.

IDEAL TIME FOR ORTHODONTIC ASSESSMENT is 7-8 years of age.