Are There Early Signs Of A Bad Bite That Will Need To Be Corrected?

The signs of teeth alignments and bite patterns that need to be corrected can often be seen early and by the age of 5 or 6 a child with a problem can be screened by an orthodontist. While they are not ready for braces there are other appliances that can be used to help change the bite pattern or the teeth alignment. Some problems might not be noticed to an untrained person, but an orthodontist is trained to know what type of bites and alignments can cause problems in the child’s future.

Around the age of seven children also have developed their incisors and some of the molars, at this time the orthodontist will be able to see problems there is currently and what problems there will be in the future. The earlier that treatment is started the shorter amount of time that braces are usually needed to finish correcting the teeth. In some cases braces might be avoided altogether with early treatment.

When crowded teeth are the problem this can often be corrected with spacers and extractions for the teeth to grow in properly, this can not be done once a child has grown to a certain age and the permanent teeth have become crowded.

Some of the problems that might be seen are with a child that sucks their thumb the top teeth are often not aligned properly. Children that have large spaces between their teeth may also have a bite problem that will require braces.