At Carroll Orthodontics, we recommend that all children be evaluated at age 7, but this does not mean your child will need braces in second grade or even in the future. And you don’t need a referral by a dentist to take advantage of this free evaluation.
An early evaluation provides huge benefits to both you and your child. At your child’s initial evaluation, we will take photos and a panoramic x-ray. With this information, we will be able to see if your child has missing teeth, teeth not erupting properly, too little or too much space for permanent teeth, or problems with the way the teeth fit together. For the vast majority of children, no treatment is indicated at this age and we will let you know if it is likely that treatment will be needed in the future. Then your child will be seen briefly every six months to monitor the eruption and development of his/her teeth. With this process, which is offered at no charge to you, we can watch for the ideal time for your child to begin treatment so that he/she can have the best, most efficient results.
Two important problems of jaw development can only be corrected before age 10. The most significant is an underbite — the lower teeth hit in front of the upper teeth. This problem is best addressed while the upper jaw is still growing, which is only until age 10. Another similar problem is a narrow upper jaw where the back top teeth are inside of the bottom teeth (crossbite). Like the underbite, a crossbite is easiest to correct while the upper jaw is still growing.
We also treat some cosmetic problems at age 8 or 9. Perhaps your child’s front teeth have come in all over the place and he/she is self-conscious. Or maybe the front teeth stick out too much. These are problems that we can correct later, but often an earlier short course of treatment can give your child the self-confidence to smile proudly right now.
Early treatment does not replace the comprehensive treatment of all permanent teeth. The goal of early treatment is always only to correct important problems that cannot be corrected later or to make future treatment less complex.
With Invisalign, Dr. Carroll can virtually monitor your teeth and your progress every week using the Dental Monitoring app on your phone. This means you are getting better care, but with more convenience and fewer appointments in the office. With Dental Monitoring, Dr. Carroll is only as far away as your smartphone.
With Invisalign, you don’t have bulky brackets that irritate your lips and tongue. And because Invisalign is custom designed for you by Dr. Carroll, the movement is precisely calculated to minimize the soreness of your teeth. Most patients say their teeth are almost never sore!
Worried about losing an aligner? Lost aligners happen much less often than people think, but if it does, we will replace it quickly and at no cost.
