Here’s a question that we get asked often by people visiting our office, but it likely isn't being asked often enough by the general public.
As parents ourselves, we understand that raising a child can be a constant stream of activity, so it’s easy to forget about things that may not seem so urgent – like how are my child’s teeth growing in! The sweet spot for getting your child to see an orthodontist is after their first molars have erupted in their mouth, usually around the range of 6 - 8 years of age.
'But that's way too early' you're saying!
Although your child might not require treatment at that moment, you’ll be thankful that you went if our doctors notice spacing and growth patterns that can be simply eased into a correction to help teeth grow in straighter as your child becomes an adolescent. Our 2 phase approach to treating developing problems early, often can help make treatment less complex and costly once all the adult teeth erupt.
Our team at Uptown has been designed to handle a steady stream of what we call “Observe Appointments,” where we meet with children and parents annually (without additional charges after the initial consultation) to monitor the growth of your child’s teeth.
If all is going well, that’s it! But if there is a concern, we’ll happily explain what the cause and effect of the growth pattern is and what we would recommend to correct the situation.
Visible indicators to see an orthodontic specialist include:
- Difficulty chewing or biting food
- Persistent habits like thumb/finger/lip sucking and chewing on clothing or blankets
- Biting of cheeks or lips while chewing
- Teeth out of alignment or meeting abnormally while biting
- The top or bottom jaw appearing too large
- Crowding of permanent teeth as they grow in
- Problems with speech and conversation
We aren’t the type of office to pressure treatment on a patient or family. Our desire is to help treat the young smiles of Saskatoon (and Yorkton) as effectively as possible, day in and day out!