Early Orthodontics

Orthodontic treatment for your little ones

Starting orthodontic treatment when your children are still growing has enormous benefits. From creating a straight smile to long-term health benefits, our specialist orthodontists can identify and fix issues with the development and alignment of the face, jaws and teeth from a young age. A great smile can improve confidence and help with health issues associated with an abnormal bite or malocclusion. An abnormal bite or malocclusion is often seen as crooked, crowded or protruding teeth which can affect the smile, ability to chew or speak and give you an increased risk of trauma to the front teeth.

What age should your child visit us?

Having a consultation early can save you time, money and stop health problems from developing. Based on research compiled by the Australian Society of Orthodontists, they recommend that children should be seen by a specialist kids orthodontist no later than the age of 7 years old for an initial orthodontic evaluation to assess if any problems are present.

As children are in a period of growth, this is a critical time in the dental and facial development of a child. At this age, they have a mixture of both baby and adult teeth, and the face and jaws are actively growing. Treatment for children may include braces, plates or palate adjusters.

Why we recommend children visit the orthodontist

Even though we recommend that children visit at the age of seven, we may not begin treatment until much later. An early visit will ensure our doctors can spot and diagnose orthodontic problems early and recommend a treatment plan. As children are growing and developing, issues such as abnormal bite or malocclusion are usually easier to correct. Plus, the development of the face, jaws and teeth can be closely monitored over time so that orthodontic treatment can be started at the perfect age for the best results. At Baldivis Orthodontics, our doctors are paediatric specialists and offer treatment that’s tailored to children.

Benefits of treatment in kids

There’s a range of benefits with early treatment. During a one-on-one consultation with our children’s orthodontist, they’ll talk you through the benefits specific to your child and how we can help.

• Making room for crooked, crowded or impacted erupting teeth
• Maintaining space for unerupted permanent teeth
• Assisting the growth of the jaws to create better facial symmetry
• Reducing the risk of trauma to protruding front teeth
• Stopping habits that can damage teeth such as thumb sucking
• Reducing the chance of problems associated with mouth breathing
• Reducing the potential need for permanent tooth extractions
• Reducing the possible treatment time with braces