As a parent you will surely ask yourself: Does my child need orthodontics? And if he or she needs it, what is the best children’s orthodontics? Children’s dental health is essential as you can avoid more complicated and expensive treatments in adulthood.
Without a doubt, the first thing is to visit the dentist, especially the pediatric dentist, who will assess whether your child’s dental health is adequate or, on the contrary, he or she needs to apply some treatment.
But, from what age should our children go to the dentist? From our Nart dental clinic we recommend that children from the age of 6 begin with their first check-up.
Before starting we must be clear about the two types of treatments that exist:
Orthodontic treatments:
Interceptive
Interceptive treatment, commonly called children’s orthodontics, are usually removable appliances, but some of them are fixed.
It is used before permanent dental replacement, in ages between 6 and 11 years, and it is usually started when crowding, occlusion or bite problems such as prognathism or retrognathism are diagnosed.
Corrective
Corrective treatment can be implemented upon completion of the definitive denture. This type of orthodontics is usually fixed, as well as braces or lingual orthodontics.
Usually, the age to implement corrective orthodontics is approximately 12 years, but it depends on when the patient already has the final teeth.
Generally, this type of treatment is not classified within children’s orthodontics.
What are interceptive orthodontic treatments?
Interceptive orthodontic treatments are linked to orthopedic treatments to solve problems of the jaw development or its bone structures.
That is, improve the position of the jaw or correct the space of the definitive denture.
Children’s orthodontics aims to avoid problems in the future when the patient’s dental development has fully developed, since these types of anomalies tend to have a high cost due to the need for surgical interventions.
Below we will develop the types of problems with their respective solutions but we must clarify that, if you need more detailed information, you should consult your trusted dentist.
Children’s orthodontics: problems and solutions
Retrognathia
Bone abnormality due to lack of growth in the jaw bone. That is, with respect to the profile of the face, the jaw is located backwards.
To solve retrognathia it is necessary to resort to:
- Facial mask.
- Palatine breaker.
Prognathism
Deformity that consists of the movement of the jaw forward.
To correct prognathism:
- Chin guard
- Face mask and combined with palate breaker.
Cross bite
It is a type of malocclusion that consists of the upper teeth falling behind the lower ones. Unlike prognathism, crossed jaw is not a jaw-related problem.
To solve it, it is necessary to resort to:
- 2 circuit breakers: McNamara and Two-band circuit breaker.
Children’s orthodontics can be very useful to solve problems in adulthood. However, despite the fact that the child wears interceptive orthodontics, surely in adolescence he must wear corrective orthodontics.
On the other hand, it is highly recommended to correct habits at childhood ages such as thumb sucking or nail biting because they can lead to problems such as atypical swallowing, open bite … From 2 years of age these types of habits must be eliminated.
