What is preventive orthodontics?
Many people have dental and jaw disorders in adulthood. These problems would not have occurred to these people if they had received appropriate treatments in their childhood. Preventive orthodontics is performed at the age of 6 or 7 years and at the beginning of the growth of permanent teeth in children to solve these problems in the future.
Preventive orthodontics
Preventive orthodontics specialists detect and detect dental problems in children even when the teeth are still forming. If these dental problems are identified and solved when the child has not yet grown enough, they will prevent dental and jaw problems in the future. This will prevent costly treatments in the future. For these reasons, it is recommended to visit a specialist for an orthodontic check-up before the child is 7 years old.
Preventive orthodontic procedures
To correct dental disorders in adulthood and avoid expensive treatments, it is better to use preventive orthodontics in childhood. This style of orthodontics is performed using different methods. The most important of these methods are:
Directed growth
In this method, when the front teeth start to grow, usually at the age of 6, the treatments start. In this treatment, by creating extra space for teeth to grow, they prevent crowded teeth. By doing this, they cause the natural alignment of the teeth.
Early extraction of teeth
If the baby tooth does not fall out in time, the orthodontist will pull it if he determines that the baby tooth needs to be extracted. This creates enough space for permanent teeth to grow.
Using aids to change harmful habits
Thumb sucking in children causes forward growth of the jaws, especially the teeth of the upper jaw. This causes a disorder in adulthood called protrusion. To prevent this disorder in adulthood, at a young age, special treatment tools can be used to reduce the child’s tendency to suck his fingers.
Expander
This device is connected to the arch of the upper teeth. Then, by adjusting that arch, they make the upper jaw wider, and as a result, the insufficient growth of the upper jaw is solved to a great extent. By doing this, the crowding of teeth and protrusion of the lower jaw are prevented.
Some of the symptoms of orthodontic problems in children are:
- Difficulty in speaking
- Difficulty chewing or biting food
- Early or late fall of milk teeth
- Sucking fingers or objects
- Breathing through the mouth
- Constant and unwanted biting of the cheek from inside the mouth
- Protruding teeth
- Grinding teeth or facial asymmetry
