When and why the early intervention of braces matters

What you need to know:

  • As the child’s bones are more malleable and softer, their jaws are more easily pushed into a healthy shape. Also, young children grow faster, which means treatment takes less time to complete and at a younger age, it is socially acceptable.

The misaligned teeth and jaw complications are usually best solved with early orthodontic intervention.

As the child’s bones are more malleable and softer, their jaws are more easily pushed into a healthy shape. Also, young children grow faster, which means treatment takes less time to complete and at a younger age, it is socially acceptable.

Advantages

• Early intervention [braces treatment] also to prevent crowded or spaced teeth. An example of this is if the child were to lose their baby molar (for any number of reasons, such as decay), this could cause their adult molar to shift forward and crowd their erupting adult teeth. By taking early action in shifting this adult molar back into an optimum position, using orthodontic appliance like space maintainers, can help avoid it.

• Zero cavity – if child has overlapping, misaligned or crooked teeth, it can render flossing and brushing thoroughly difficult as some of the teeth’s surfaces become hard to reach, which is when bacteria and food particles are allowed to build-up.

This is when teeth become susceptible to tooth decay. By undergoing braces treatment, your child’s teeth can become straighter and becomes easy to brush and floss. Though there are several other factors responsible for decay, which should also be looked out and taken care of.

• Braces can help prevent infections – a child’s gums can become unhealthy due to malocclusions (jaw problems caused by misaligned teeth). As tooth alignment and jaw issues cause difficulty cleaning, your child’s teeth will build up layers of plaque and tartar on their teeth.

Following this, their gum tissue becomes inflamed, promoting the growth of harmful bacteria. If left untreated, these bacteria may lead to various oral infections

• Helps your child avoid other health issues – misaligned teeth can present a range of health issues, ranging from mild to severe. For example, jaw misalignment can cause migraines, chronic chewing and biting issues, speech problems and ear-aches as well as irregularities in the jaw joint.

• To increase child’s self-esteem and self confidence – children can suffer jaw or teeth problems as it affects the way they look. Correcting a misaligned jaw could be one of the biggest confidence boosters for children, helping restore belief in them.

Ask your dentist’s opinion for the orthodontic treatment for your child as soon as the child loses all the baby teeth, from the age of 10 to 13 years onwards.