Braces for Kids

Benefits Of Braces For Kids

The AAO recommends a child’s first orthodontic evaluation be at 7 years old. This timing is crucial during the developmental years.

Full Braces Typically Start: Full braces (Phase II treatment) usually begin around ages 11-13 when most permanent teeth have erupted, allowing for comprehensive alignment and bite correction.

Why Young Kids Have Braces: The young children you see with braces are typically in Phase I (early interceptive) treatment, which addresses specific problems that are easier to correct during active growth:

Common Reasons for Early Braces:

• Severe crossbites that can cause jaw asymmetry if left untreated
• Significant protruding teeth vulnerable to injury during sports or falls
• Underbites that worsen with growth and become harder to correct later
• Severe crowding requiring palatal expansion while growth is active
• Harmful habits like thumb sucking that need intervention
• Aesthetic concerns significantly affecting a child’s self-confidence

The Growth Advantage: Children’s jaws are still growing and more responsive to treatment. Problems like narrow palates, crossbites, and jaw discrepancies are much easier to correct during this growth phase than waiting until teenage years when growth slows.

Treatment Approach: Early treatment is usually shorter (6-18 months) and focuses on specific issues, followed by a rest period, then full braces later if needed for final alignment. This two-phase approach often prevents more complex treatment or extractions later.

Benefit of Palatal Expansion for Kids

Look in our smile gallery to see the benefits of palatal expansion to create space for erupting teeth. Lifelong benefits include better eruption and alignment of permanent teeth, better longterm stability of orthodontic results, better potential function including improved breathing which is critically important for a child’s development.

Teeth may spontaneously align when expanders have created space for erupting teeth and no braces are recommended until full eruption of the permanent dentition. For more severe alignment issues before that time, braces may be placed for a short period of time in conjunction with palatal expansion.

Types of Braces – The doctors will determine which is the best type of braces for your particular needs.

Metal Braces

Traditional metal braces consist of two primary elements: brackets and an archwire. Brackets are tiny metal fixtures bonded to individual teeth. The archwire is a slender wire that links all the brackets together. With traditional braces, there are elastic ties (sometimes colorful!) that hold the wire onto each braces. At each appointment, we will adjust your braces and wires to get the most beautiful alignment and bite positioning.

Fast Friction Free Braces such as Pitts’ or Damon Braces

Friction free braces, also called Passive Self-Ligating Braces such as Pitts’ braces, move teeth faster because there are no elastic ties to hold the wire onto the braces. Wires are held in place instead by a tiny closing metal gate that is attached to the brace. An speed analogy would be to think rubber wheels of a car riding on asphalt versus a train with metal wheels gliding on a metal train track. The latter has much less friction so can move faster with less force. This is the case with Pitt’s braces! These braces are good for all types of treatments but severely crowded cases and cases where teeth need to move long distances, these braces can do the seemingly impossible. They are game-changers! See our smile gallery!

Clear Braces

Clear braces are an esthetic option to align teeth and work the same way as the Metal Braces descried above. Clear braces are a little more delicate than metal braces and could be a great choice for a conscientious patient.