The American Association of Orthodontists recommends that all children get a initial evaluation done by an orthodontist as early as age 7. This is primarily to foresee the need of dental treatment in the future and to assess the dental problems persisting in the dentition at that time. Around 90% of patients start their orthodontic treatment at or after age 11 but if a child falls in the 10% of category it is advisable to start treatment and obtain desirable results earlier as it could save your child from years of extended treatment and also hefty costs which come with it from the prolonged treatment period.
Certain orthodontic problems can only be fixed in growing children and once their physical growth phase stops, surgical intervention might be necessary to correct the same issues so an early evaluation might go a long way and thus it is beneficial to rule out certain bite and and growth problems
While it is better to get braces when you’re younger, the age of the start of the treatment depends on the patient’s case. Some of these factors include existing conditions, e.g, crossbite, open bite, over jet, maturity of the patient, oral hygiene maintaince, types of braces and the seriousness of the problem.
The response of orthodontic treatment is more rapid in younger years and the child’s physical growth phase can be utilised to achieve desirable results, e.g, sagittal and vertical changes in the jaw. Another very important reason why orthodontic treatment should be started at a younger age is decreased risk of periodontal disease as a child’s gingiva is usually healthy and there is less chance of gingivitis or periodontitis developing. Since brushing is compromised during orthodontic treatment, gum disease developing has a less prevalence for a child than someone in their late teens or 20’s.
