Early Orthodontics in North Richland Hills

Does My Child Need Early Orthodontics?

Early orthodontic care can help identify developing bite, alignment, and jaw concerns before they become more difficult to address. At Gallery Dental, we provide early orthodontic evaluations in North Richland Hills to help parents better understand their child's developing smile and whether treatment may be beneficial.

The American Association of Orthodontists recommends that children receive their first orthodontic evaluation around age seven. An early evaluation does not necessarily mean your child will need treatment right away. Instead, it allows our team to monitor dental and jaw development and identify concerns that may benefit from early orthodontic intervention. When appropriate, addressing certain issues while your child is still growing may help guide development and simplify future orthodontic treatment.     

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Irregularities in Pediatric Dental Development

Orthodontic problems can sometimes be invisible to the untrained eye. An orthodontist is highly skilled at detecting the smallest clues of irregularities and misalignment. Irregularities are most often a result of genetic factors, but can be exacerbated by poor nutrition, poor oral hygiene and thumb sucking.

There is no substitute for an orthodontic examination, but here are some common signs that irregularity may become a possibility:          

• Finger or thumb sucking

• Chewing or biting problems

• Teeth that do not meet or that meet irregularly

• Disproportionate jaws

• Clicking or shifting jaws

• Later or earlier loss of baby teeth than normal

Types of Early Orthodontic Intervention

The goal of early intervention and treatment is to ensure that more serious problems do not develop in the future. If an irregularity is allowed to progress, there is a chance that later treatment will be more complicated. Your oral health professional can improve the appearance of your child’s teeth and jaw, guide jaw growth, and provide advice and support on correcting poor oral habits.

Early intervention tends to fall into three main categories: preventive, interceptive and comprehensive. Here is a brief overview of each type of treatment to better exemplify how complicated problems can be avoided:

Preventive Treatments

The goal of preventive treatment is to avoid the development of malocclusion in a normally developing mouth. Your dental professional may remove a baby tooth to create space for the corresponding adult tooth to erupt. Conversely, if a baby tooth has been lost too early, a space retainer appliance will hold that space for the corresponding adult tooth.

Interceptive Treatments

Interceptive treatments aim to reduce the complexity of a developing problem and eliminate the cause where possible. The ideal candidate for interceptive treatment usually has a mixture of adult and baby teeth. Your dental provider is able to alter the size of the teeth, remove longstanding baby teeth and create space for erupting adult teeth.

Comprehensive Treatments

Comprehensive treatments are commonly used to correct growth irregularities. When the teeth are completely misaligned or the jaws are functioning poorly, orthodontic treatment may be combined with jaw surgery, tooth extractions or restorative surgery. Comprehensive treatment can begin prior to the loss of baby teeth, with several phases of such treatment required to optimize benefits.

If you have questions about your child's developing smile or whether early orthodontic treatment may be appropriate, contact Gallery Dental to schedule an evaluation in North Richland Hills. Our team can assess your child's teeth, bite, and jaw development and discuss whether monitoring or early treatment is recommended.

CALL US: (817) 409-6196 REQUEST APPOINTMENT