A first orthodontic check around age seven, and interceptive treatment only when it will genuinely change the outcome. Guiding jaw growth at the right moment can create room for crowded teeth and avoid extractions or surgery later.
The Canadian and American Associations of Orthodontists both recommend a first orthodontic check at about age seven. By then a child has a mix of baby and adult teeth, and problems that are simple to influence now are visible for the first time.
The check is not a sales appointment. Most seven-year-olds we see need nothing at all beyond a review in a year or two, and we will say so. What the visit buys is timing: knowing which children need something now, and which are better left until all the permanent teeth are through.
For the minority who do need early treatment, the opportunity is real and it closes. While a child is still growing, an expander or a partial course of braces can widen a narrow arch, correct a crossbite, create room for crowded teeth and guide the jaws into a better relationship. Wait until growth is finished and the same corrections may need extractions, or surgery.
Influencing how the jaws develop is only possible during childhood. Afterwards, we can only move teeth within the jaws you have.
Widening a narrow upper arch at the right age often means the permanent teeth have somewhere to erupt into.
Early correction of a skeletal discrepancy sometimes removes the need for a much bigger intervention as an adult.
Severely protruding upper front teeth are far more likely to be broken in a fall or a collision. Reducing that is a health decision, not a cosmetic one.
A complete examination with radiographs where they are needed, and a clear answer: treat now, review later, or nothing required.
Many children simply come back annually so we can watch the permanent teeth arrive. There is no charge to be watched.
A limited course, commonly an expander, partial braces or a habit appliance, running six to twelve months with a specific goal.
Appliances come out and we let the remaining permanent teeth erupt naturally, checking in periodically.
A shorter course of full braces in the teens to finish the alignment and the bite.
For braces, usually yes. Seven is the right age for an assessment, not for treatment. The point is to identify the small number of children for whom acting early genuinely changes the outcome.
Early or very late loss of baby teeth, difficulty chewing or biting, mouth breathing, thumb sucking past about five, crowded or blocked-out teeth, jaws that click, and teeth that meet oddly or not at all.
Sometimes. Phase One corrects a specific problem while growth allows; Phase Two aligns the full permanent dentition later. Where a single course in the teens would achieve the same thing, that is what we recommend.
No. You can book an assessment directly. We will keep your family dentist informed either way, and we work closely with them.
Your child's initial consultation is complimentary, including our assessment and recommendation.
A series of clear, removable aligners that straighten your teeth without brackets or wires. We work with several aligner systems and choose the one that fits your case. You take them out to eat, brush and floss normally, and most people around you will never notice you are in treatment.
The most proven appliance in orthodontics, and far more comfortable than the braces you remember. High-grade stainless steel brackets and light archwires move teeth predictably, with coloured elastics if you want them.
Ceramic brackets in a translucent, tooth-toned material that blends into your smile instead of standing out against it. They work exactly like metal braces and are usually placed on the upper front teeth, where visibility matters most.
Book the check at seven. More often than not the answer is reassuring, and when it is not, you have found out in time.
