In life, timing is everything, and this is especially true when it comes to your child’s orthodontic treatment. A misaligned jaw or early signs of airway issues and other skeletal or growth issues may be missed without a professional examination.

The American Association of Orthodontists recommends that your child’s first orthodontic check-up occur before the age of seven. By seven years old, your child has enough permanent teeth for our orthodontists to evaluate oral development and identify issues while their bones are still growing. In early treatment at our Bellevue and Seattle offices, we focus on getting skeletal growth and development on track.

Why Earlier Treatment is Better

All adult teeth have erupted between the ages of ten to thirteen, and much of a child’s skeletal growth is complete. We can successfully move teeth at this age, but sometimes we lose the opportunity to influence and change skeletal growth patterns.

Problems such as crossbite and crowding often require a palatal expander that can be used to gradually and painlessly widen the upper jaw. The ability to expand the child’s pallet is most effective when the jaw itself hasn’t fully developed. This early treatment will make the second phase more efficient and predictable with better results.

Intervention

Bad oral habits such as thumb sucking, tongue thrusting, and mouth breathing can influence the development and function of their teeth, jaws, and mouth. Correcting these bad habits at an early age can help prevent more significant issues later.

When you choose Inspired Orthodontics in Bellevue and Seattle, you can rest assured that your orthodontist is an expert in their field who has the skill and experience to give your child their best smile.

Contact us today to schedule your child’s first orthodontic evaluation.

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At Inspired Orthodontics we love caring for our patients! Please contact us to make an appoinment with our orthodontists in Seattle and Bellevue.

We offer our patients in Seattle braces, Seattle orthodontic expansion, Seattle Invisalign, Seattle sleep apnea treatment, and Seattle surgical orthodontic treatment. We offer our patients in Bellevue braces, Bellevue orthodontic expansion, Bellevue Invisalign, Bellevue sleep apnea treatment, and Bellevue surgical orthodontic treatment.