Bright Day Orthodontics can play an important role in the appearance and health of your child. In fact, the American Association of Orthodontics recommends that an orthodontist examine children by the time they are seven years old — and yes, that means while baby teeth are still in their mouths. Your child’s dentist is trained to identify bite issues at an early age and will refer a child to an orthodontist at the appropriate point in time.

To create a smile that lasts a lifetime, your child needs teeth that are straight and jaws that are aligned properly. That all begins with the baby teeth; the way they are aligned, when and how they fall out, and how much room they are allowing or not allowing for the emergence of permanent adult teeth. That’s why it’s a good idea to have an orthodontist exam your child while they still have their baby teeth.

While your child’s teeth may look straight, there may be underlying problems with the way adult teeth may be coming in, with deep bites, open bites, and cross bites, with the relationship of the upper and lower jaw, with tooth crowding, or problems that may be occurring due to thumbsucking or other habits. Orthodontists can pinpoint these problems, even if they are subtle, and can start correcting any problems to avoid potential problems for future adult teeth. By age seven, enough permanent teeth have emerged for your orthodontist to evaluate relationships developing between teeth, jaw and bite and make sure all will continue to develop as they should.

Your child may or may not need orthodontic work. That will be determined by the examination. But no matter what, you will get the peace of mind that early detection and treatment will result in a lifelong smile for your child.