How To Tell If A Young Child Needs Braces

It is a common notion that the best time to get braces is either during childhood years or teen years. According to the Canadian Association of Orthodontists, it is recommended that every child should see an orthodontic specialist no later than age 7. But one question that perplexes every parent is— how do you identify whether or not your child needs braces? Are there any definite signs that one can notice that are clear indications that the child needs braces? 

How To Tell If A Young Child Needs Braces
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To make it easier for parents, here are a few factors that can be considered as indicators that your child can undergo orthodontic treatment using braces.

1. Crowding

One of the easiest factors that help you determine if your baby needs braces is crowded baby teeth. The baby teeth are smaller than permanent teeth, and so there’s supposed to be some amount of spacing between two teeth to be able to accommodate the permanent teeth later in life. However, when your child has a perfect set of teeth in childhood with not enough spacing and no gap at all, this indicates that accommodating permanent teeth in the future will be a challenge and will thus easily result in crowding.

2. Distal Step

Distal step, a condition that is characterized by the lower back teeth being far too behind the upper back teeth can mean that your child will have bite problems as they grow up. When you notice this, it would be a good decision to visit your dentist and get your little one’s upper and lower teeth positioning checked once and to determine when would be the right time to get braces.

3. Mesial Step Bite

Mesial step bite in childhood can easily mean developing an underbite in adulthood. An underbite is when the lower front teeth bite in front of the upper front teeth, which is not how one’s bite should be. What’s normal is for the upper front teeth to bite over the lower front teeth. When your child has a medial step bite, you might have to opt for braces treatment for your child.

4. Habits

Many children continue to suck their thumb even into middle childhood. When this happens, the habit can interfere with the growth of the upper jaw. And this results in crossbite of the back teeth along with difficulty in closing the front teeth. Besides thumb sucking, tongue thrusting and finger biting also have a negative impact on the growth and development of the bite and jaws in your child, and this may need corrective measures.

5. Family History

If your family has a history of underbite, overbite, crowding, or requiring dental treatment using braces, it would be a good idea to consult a dentist known for offering braces Winnipeg so that the issue can be corrected in childhood itself.

While you can definitely go for braces in adulthood, childhood saves a lot of trouble, especially since aesthetics become a major issue when your child would get braces as an adult. Getting braces during childhood or teen years means having a beautiful, confident smile on occasions such as prom and graduation ceremony among others as an adult, instead of having to hide braces behind hands.