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For Children

At Orthodontic Health, we recommend the first orthodontic check-up for children at the age of 4 years, in order to detect any irregularities in the child’s bone and dental growth as early as possible. The Orthodontics for Children in our centres cover: Interceptive orthodontics, Orthopaedics, and Orthodontics at an early age.

Early Check up

  1. Orthodontists can spot subtle problems with jaw growth and emerging teeth while some baby teeth are still present.
  2. Key indicators that we look for: No space between the baby teeth at 4 years old, uneven upper or lower front teeth, set back upper or lower jaw, facial lengthening, teeth meeting the wrong way around (underbite), slack open mouth resting posture.
  3. Patient compliance is also a key part of our treatment programme, we achieve this with education and patience throughout the process.
  4. "Age matters, and the earlier the better. At Orthodontic Health, treatment you can start treatment from 4 years old. From the age of 8, treatment starts to become increasingly difficult and compromises can be necessary, especially for difficult situations."
  5. You will leave your initial appointment with a good understanding of the treatment and support from our specialised team.

    Orthodontic problems rarely fix themselves, that is why the American Association of Orthodontists recommends that all children be screened by an AAO orthodontist at age 7.
Child Before Orthodontic Treatment: Age 7 years 6 months
Charlotte's Before Treatment: Age 7 years 6 months
Child After Orthodontic Treatment: Age 11 years 2 months
Charlotte After Treatment: Age 11 years 2 months

Why Early Treatment?

Our treatment philosophy is based on the premise that crooked teeth and incorrect jaw positions (both dental and skeletal elements of malocclusion) are predominantly an environmental problem, a symptom of how the facial complex has grown, and not a specific disease, caused by a mismatch between how we evolved to live and how we currently live.

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Ideal if your child:

· Snores

· Breathes with their mouth open

· Has tongue tie or lip tie

· Grinds their teeth

· Has a gummy smile

· Has no space for their adult teeth

· Has a narrow upper jaw

· Shows signs of having ADHD

 

Did you know that there is a preventative alternative to Orthodontics?

Early interventions differ from traditional orthodontics in that it aims to address the root cause rather than the symptoms and provides a more holistic approach.  It promotes growth of the jaw bones to achieve their full potential and reduces the risk of complex treatment later in life.  It also promotes correct posture and function.

What causes crooked teeth?

The majority of children now have crooked teeth, which is evident from five years of age and is often attributed to hereditary factors. However, rather than blame genetics for crooked teeth and poor jaw development, modern research has produced evidence that points to other causes.

Mouth breathing, tongue thrusting, reverse swallowing and thumb sucking (known as incorrect myofunctional habits) are the real causes.

Allergies, asthma and an open mouth posture also contribute to incorrect jaw development. Growing up, most of us have had one or more of these myofunctional problems, which may have been the cause of incorrect dental and facial development.

 

Treatment started when she was just eight – years before any conventional treatment would have even been offered, even though the problem with her jaw was obvious. Sam | Mother of Alex
I would recommend orthotropics to anyone who wishes to improve not just the teeth but the whole bone structure of the face. Deidre | Mother of Samantha
My daughter started treatment here 3 years ago and what has been achieved is absolutely astonishing – I have never seen results like this in anyone before Jan Mashford
I am delighted with the highly-skilled and professional treatment my sons have received. Other treatments only offered extraction. This treatment has led to a full set of beautiful teeth. Elizabeth | Mother of Isaac And Edwin