Orthodontics in Wheat Ridge
At Kid Focus Dentistry we don’t only focus on dental caries, we also hope to prevent possible future problems; especially with growth.
Most parents only think about braces in terms of crowding; however, we focus on the more important aspect of overall bone growth. From the moment of your child’s first appointment, we look for potential problems with growth. If growth is well monitored and corrected in a suitable time frame, we can help you prevent future TMJ disorder, airway problems, lengthy and difficult braces cases, and most importantly jaw surgery.
We recommend braces when a patient has:
Growth problems
When children 10 and under exhibit bone growth problems we often recommend special braces to control them. This orthodontist treatment is usually very time sensitive. So we highly recommend that parents take their child for an orthodontist evaluation as soon as possible. When children are younger, their bone growth is quite malleable and a lot of growth guidance can be done; especially with an underbite jaw relation.
Growth guidance is usually done in 2 phases:
- The first phase usually starts at 8-9 years old and usually lasts for 6-8 months. This is to correct the majority of growth problems.
- The second phase is when the child is around 10-12 and usually lasts about 1 year. This is to align all the new adult teeth to full function.
The benefit of these type of braces is that if done correctly, a patient can avoid jaw surgery, and their teeth will be a lot more stable.
Crowding and Rotations
Once your child is about 11-12 years old and most of their adult teeth are in, we check to see if they need braces. If they have no growth problems but do have crowding or rotations we will recommend the traditional braces that you see most kids wearing.
There are a lot of different orthodontic approaches out there and we are here to help you choose the right type for you. We will look at long-term results and all the outcomes to help you make the best decision for your child.
We have an informational post on Myobrace if that is an option that you are considering.
Written By: Dr. Ngo