The Australian Society of Orthodontists recommends children have an orthodontic assessment around the age of 7. This allows your orthodontist to evaluate whether early treatment might be needed.
Early orthodontic treatment addresses developing problems with a child’s teeth, bite, or jaw growth. The goal is to reduce the need for treatment later or make future treatment simpler. However, not all children require early intervention. Many can wait until their teenage years for comprehensive care once their adult teeth have fully developed.
At Arete Orthodontics, we only recommend treatment when it’s truly necessary. Unnecessary interventions can lead to extra cost, time, and effort without significant benefits. They can also disrupt your child’s daily life and risk causing treatment fatigue before they’re ready for comprehensive care.
If early treatment isn’t needed, we’ll place your child on an individualized review schedule to monitor their dental and skeletal development. At Arete Orthodontics, your child's initial orthodontic screening and periodic reviews are free of charge.
Early Loss of Baby Teeth
- Space loss: Missing baby teeth can cause neighboring teeth to shift, making it harder for adult teeth to erupt properly and leading to crowding.
- Dental midline shifts: Teeth may move asymmetrically due to missing baby teeth.
Delayed Loss of Baby Teeth or Eruption of Adult Teeth
This may indicate:
- Absence of an adult tooth to replace the baby tooth.
- An adult tooth that is stuck or growing in the wrong direction due to obstacles.
Submerged Baby Teeth
- Submerged baby teeth (fused to the bone) may fail to fall out naturally, especially if there’s no adult tooth to replace them.
- Long-term, this can affect jaw development locally and the alignment of neighboring teeth.
Abnormal Eruption of Adult Teeth
Adult teeth may grow in the wrong direction or become stuck, causing:
- Damage to adjacent teeth.
- Development of cysts.
- Crowding as neighboring teeth shift into the wrong space.
Compromised Adult Teeth
- Some adult teeth may develop defects that reduce their long-term health.
- In certain cases, timed removal of these teeth allows other adult teeth to take their place, reducing the need for lifelong dental work.
Space Management
In certain cases where a little extra space is beneficial, we may recommend using a space maintainer. This appliance helps preserve room by preventing the forward movement of the 6-year-old molars (first permanent molars).
The extra space comes from the natural size difference between adult teeth and their preceding baby teeth, as adult teeth are slightly narrower. Without intervention, this space is lost during natural development.
Overbite
- Protruding upper front teeth may increase the risk of dental trauma
Underbite
- An underbite may reflect a discrepancy in the proportions between the upper and lower jaws
- In select cases, growth modification may be indicated to address this
Narrow Upper Jaw
- In cases where the upper jaw is narrower relative to the lower jaw, expansion to widen the upper jaw may be needed. This is only feasible up to a certain age, as with maturity, the two halves of the top jaw fuse.
- The lower jaw cannot be widened without surgery as the midline suture fuses within the first year of life.
Crossbites & Scissorbites
Crossbites: when upper teeth bite on the inside of lower teeth.
Scissorbites: when back upper teeth bite fully outside lower teeth.
These bite discrepancies may can cause:
- increased or uneven wear on teeth
- discomfort when eating/chewing
- abnormal jaw movements when biting
- gum recession
- poor aesthetics
Habits
Habits such as thumb-sucking can lead to open bites (no overlap between teeth when biting together). Helping your child stop these habits can resolve related bite issues.
Before
After
