Early Orthodontics or Interceptive Orthodontics?

---

 Even though most people think teens when they think of orthodontics, there are good reasons your child should get an orthodontic evaluation much sooner. The American Association of Orthodontists recommends a check-up with an orthodontist no later than age 7   

• Screening should start by the age of 4-5 years old
• Treatment can begin after first molars and most incisors are erupted (roughly at the age of 7 years old)
• Treatment start depends on the nature of the patient’s problems and needs to be assessed individually
• For some indications we can even start with only deciduous teeth after the philosophy of Pedro Planas (RNO) 

 All interventions and treatments that can be performed during the primary or mixed dentition, with the purpose of eliminating or minimizing dentoalveolar and skeletal disharmonies that can interfere with the normal growth and development of occlusion, function, aesthetics , and psychologic well-being of your children .           

•Improvement of facial appearance and self-esteem

•Easier resolution or interception of developing malocclusion

•Minimization of severe malocclusion

•Correction of functional problems (e.g. crossbite with midline shift)

•Prevention of damage to teeth or dentoskeletal structures

•Reduction in the need for extraction

•Greater patient compliance

•More stable results

•Less traumatic and therefore less painful

•Prevention of psychologic problems

•Lower treatment costs

•If possible elimination of primary etiologic factors

•Correction of problems

•Interception of developing problems

•Prevention of worsening of obvious problems

•Preparation of an environment for normal occlusal development and function

•Guidance of growth in a more favourable direction

•Management of arch size-tooth size discrepancy

•Reduction of susceptibility to trauma

•Correction of skeletal dysplasia

1. Most patients who undergo early treatment require a second phase of treatment: Some patients but not most patients need a second phase of treatment. When needed the second phase of treatment is easier, shorter and better skeletal results can be achieved.

2. Two-phase treatment lengthens treatment time: Some do require longer depending of the patient but we need to consider the chair time not the calendar time

3. Treatment can be harmful: Knowledge about growth changes and growth pattern can be helpful in treatment planning but is very complex and sometimes unpredictable and therefore we require continuous observation

4. Early diagnosis and treatment planning are sometimes more tentative. When growth has terminated, the future of malocclusion is more visible: it is more tentative but periodic reassessment aids the process

In the UK it is common to use a single period of treatment with braces to fix just about any orthodontic problem (age 12-18). For some people, this results in a beautiful, healthy smile, but it isn’t right for all patients. In many cases, the problems we need to correct are actually structural issues with the underlying bones and ligaments supporting the teeth, and correcting these problems is often difficult with braces alone. That’s why orthodontists have developed Two-Phase Treatment.

Two-Phase Treatment is an orthodontic technique that involves using two separate periods of orthodontic treatment: one during childhood and one during adolescence. This approach allows us to treat underlying bone structure issues during childhood, when the bones of the mouth are still growing and malleable, then treat more surface-level alignment issues during adolescence, once the adult teeth have grown in.