About 25-50% of children in the U.S. today need some kind of orthodontic treatment. Some have more severe issues than others. For those with mild issues, is braces treatment really necessary? What happens if you don’t treat a child with braces?
Dental problems get worse over time, and they can lead to other issues, including excessive tooth wear, jaw fatigue, headaches, and even sleep issues. The sooner you treat the issues, the fewer problems they cause later.
Woodhill Dental Specialties can determine whether your child needs orthodontic treatment and what might happen if they don’t get it.
Do your kids need braces if they just have mildly crooked teeth? Do they need braces for an overbite? Whether your child needs braces should be determined by an orthodontist.
The American Association of Orthodontists recommends your child consult with an orthodontist by age 7. Your child’s baby teeth should all be in by then, and the permanent teeth should be coming in. It’s the perfect time to intervene, if necessary, to prevent more serious dental issues later.
You may think it’s easy to look at your child’s smile and tell whether they need braces. The truth is, there may be other issues going on that may be harder for you to spot. That’s why it’s so important to consult a professional.
Crooked teeth are about far more than just a nice smile. They can affect your child’s digestion, jaws, breathing, speech, and even overall health.
Digestion starts in the mouth. As your teeth grind the food into smaller pieces, your saliva begins breaking down the food so it’s easier for your stomach to digest. You also start getting nutrients from your food as your teeth and saliva break it down.
The better your teeth break down your food, the easier it is to digest and extract nutrients from it. Food that isn’t chewed well is harder to digest and can cause gastrointestinal problems such as gas, bloating, and acid reflux.
Your body relies on nutrients from food to survive and stay in good health. Poorly digested food can lead to nutrient deficiencies that can negatively affect overall health. Teeth that are out of alignment may not chew and grind food as well as straight teeth, which means you may not be getting all the nutrients you should from food.
Misaligned teeth can put extra strain on the jaws. This can eventually lead to the wearing down of the temporomandibular joints. It also can cause excessive tooth wear as the teeth hit each other in places they’re not designed to contact.
Over time, your child can develop jaw fatigue, headaches, neck aches, and eventually TMJ Disorder. These issues worsen over time, so fixing them as soon as possible prevents them from becoming more serious.
The shape of your child’s mouth and jaws can affect their ability to breathe through their nose. A misshapen palate can narrow the air passages above it, making it harder to breathe. Your child’s tongue may not sit right when at rest, which can block proper airflow.
Straightening the teeth and jaws can also involve training the tongue to rest in the proper position. This can make breathing much easier, including at night.
Teeth actually play a very important role in speech development. Several sounds depend on the tongue's placement against the teeth or palate. Crooked teeth or problems such as an overbite, underbite, or open bite can make those sounds harder to produce.
Straightening the teeth can improve speech development and make it easier to say certain words without speech impediments such as a lisp.
Breathing and digestive issues, in particular, can affect overall health. Digestive issues can reduce your child’s nutrient intake, leading to a host of problems that affect their growth and development.
Breathing issues can impair their ability to sleep deeply and get adequate rest. This can affect everything from mood to energy level during the daytime.
Speech problems can affect their mental and emotional health as they struggle to speak like their peers. Even jaw pain can affect their overall health, making it more difficult to eat and causing pain that can affect them physically and emotionally.
Treatment with braces or clear aligners can be done at any age, even in adulthood. However, treatment for children may be a bit different depending on how soon it's started.
Treatment in two phases can begin about ages 9-10. We can treat minor issues before they become major ones, often with orthodontic appliances such as a palate expander, a tongue crib to train the tongue’s position, and space maintainers to hold spaces for permanent teeth to erupt properly.
Later, we can fix the remaining issues with braces or clear aligners in the second phase of the two-phase treatment. Repairing the issues we can in phase one usually means the second phase takes less time and costs less because there is less to fix.
What if your child doesn’t have two-phase treatment? They can still get braces or clear aligners, but treatment may take a bit longer if their dental issues are more serious. On average, teenagers will wear their braces for 12-24 months and clear aligners for 9-15 months.
Not every patient is ideal for clear aligners, though they can repair much more than they did a few years ago. We will evaluate your child and determine the best treatment for them.
Braces or clear aligner treatment will work for adults just as it does for children, though it may take a bit longer. That’s because the bones in the jaws are “set” and not malleable as they are in younger children. Also, by adulthood, many dental problems have worsened.
Does that mean adults shouldn’t get orthodontic treatment? Absolutely not! You deserve a beautiful, healthy smile as much as your child does! Woodhill Dental Specialties treats adults as well as children. We’ll be happy to address your orthodontic issues.
No. Orthodontic treatment works at any age. Adult treatment may take slightly longer because the jawbone is fully set and less malleable than in children, but the results are just as effective. Many of the same issues that could have been treated in childhood can still be corrected in adulthood.
Many dental insurance plans include orthodontic coverage for children, though coverage limits and age cutoffs vary by plan. It's worth checking your specific plan before your consultation. Woodhill Dental Specialties can help you understand your options and work with your insurance provider.
It depends on the severity of the issues and when treatment starts. Children in two-phase treatment begin the first phase around ages 9 to 10. Teenagers getting braces typically wear them for 12 to 24 months. Clear aligners average 9 to 15 months. Starting treatment earlier generally means shorter overall treatment time.
Yes. Retainers are a standard part of orthodontic treatment and are given immediately after braces come off. They keep the teeth from shifting back while the jawbone continues to settle around the new tooth positions. Most patients wear retainers full time initially, then transition to nighttime wear over time.
For many cases, yes. Clear aligners have expanded significantly in what they can treat and are now effective for a wide range of bite and alignment issues. Not every patient is an ideal candidate, though — some more complex cases are better suited to braces. An evaluation will tell us which option is the right fit for your child.
Dental issues get worse over time as you continually use your teeth and jaws “incorrectly.” This can lead to more problems, including excessive tooth wear, cracks, breaks, and TMJ Disorder.
Nip those issues in the bud early! Woodhill Dental Specialties provides pediatric dentistry and orthodontics for children and adults in Dallas, TX. Schedule an appointment today to see how we can help!
This site’s strategy, design, photo & video were created by the marginally-above-average folks @ Clear Partnering Group.
