When I was younger, orthodontists did not normally put braces on children until they lost most or all of their baby teeth. Unfortunately, fixing problems after they occured could be painful, lengthy, and costly. Today doctors are much more proactive with choosing to prevent dental problems before they occur.
Make sure you ask your child’s dentist every 6 months if they think an orthodontist consultation should happen. This year, when I took both boys in, then answer was finally “yes” about my youngest (8 at the time). He had a large gap between his front teeth and there seemed to be no room for the adult tooth right next to the fronts to come down after losing the baby. I took him into two recommended orthodontists to get an estimate of care and cost. One of them shined and felt like the way to go over the other. The care plan of action was to have him in braces for two separate periods of time. The first was now for 12 months of top braces to widen his upper jaw and move his big tooth over so his adult tooth had room to come down. The second period of time will be top and bottom braces when he’s 13 or 14 and has all or almost all of his adult teeth in with plenty of room to work with to finish straightening for 10-12 months.
The next time we went to the dentist, the answer was “yes” for my oldest (11 at the time). He still hadn’t lost his baby canines and his x-ray showed that his adult canines were crooked. I took him to the same orthodontist and he felt we came in barely just in time to prevent some potentially huge problems. His baby teeth needed to come out asap because his canines were turning in the direction that if they continued to come down that way, they would have plowed through the adult teeth right next to the front teeth and broken them. The canines are very strong teeth and they would have pulverized them and there would be nothing the doctor could do after that. The plan of care for him, because of his age, is to have braces on top and bottom for 26-28 months and not for a second period. So back to the dentist we went for extractions of the baby canines. After that happened, the orthodontist put braces on the top teeth only because his front teeth were pointing slightly inward and need to be pulled out a little. Once that occurs, they will put braces on the lower jaw as well. It took a few months but his canines are finally poking through the skin in the correct place.
We are so happy we were able to avoid some big dental problems with the boys. Please be sure to ask your dentist every time you bring your kids if you need to get a consult. Even if they don’t think it is necessary and you have a question about it, just bring them anyway. Consults are free and it’s better to be safe than sorry. Best of luck!