Keys and main doubts in orthodontics for children

If you are thinking about orthodontic treatment for your children, Dr. Díez-Cascón resolves in this video interview the most common doubts about braces and treatment periods depending on the case of each child.

When is the best time to place braces?

The best time to place braces depends on the problem the child has. For example, if you are concerned that your child has a lack of space, it may be best to wait until he or she has the permanent dentition, around 12-13 years of age, and then do an alignment treatment with braces. On the other hand, if what worries you is an orthopedic alteration, that is to say that it closes badly, it may be necessary to carry out an early treatment, before the replacement of the definitive dentition to fix the bone problem so that it closes well, then there will be a period of rest and in a second phase we will align the teeth on the bases that we have already corrected orthopedically.

When should the treatment be done in one phase and when in two?

It will depend on the problem. If the problem is orthopedic, the ideal is to perform the treatment in two phases. In the first phase, around 9 years of age, what we will do is correct the bone problem, we will correct the way the child closes. This will take some time, then we will let the child rest and in the definitive dentition we will consider the need or not of a second phase to align the teeth. On the other hand, if the child closes properly and the only thing he/she needs is a dental alignment, we will wait for the definitive dentition around 11, 12, 13 years of age depending on each child and then we will perform a tooth alignment treatment with fixed braces.

Read Now 👉  LED Teeth Whitening

What types of braces are there?

Basically there are two main groups, fixed and removable. Fixed braces have great control over the tooth, they apply a continuous and gentle force. It is important to know that the best way for the tooth to move is with gentle forces. On the other hand, the group of removable appliances, what they do is apply an intense and discontinuous force to the tooth, only when the appliance is worn. Therefore, broadly speaking, we could think that the fixed appliance is better, although it has a major drawback and that is that it creates corners where there were none, that is, the child needs to brush much better because otherwise what happens is that the risk of tooth decay increases.

How long does orthodontic treatment last?

The duration of orthodontic treatment for children is usually 2 years, but there are many variations. It is very important that the orthodontist, child and parents form a team, that is to say, if the child begins to break the braces or the parents do not control the child’s brushing, a treatment can last forever, it can be heavy, that is to say, the ideal is that we form a team, the parents, the orthodontist and your children.