Dr. Wright's Treatment Philosophies:
EXTRACTIONS OR NO EXTRACTIONS?
Up until about twenty years ago,when you got braces, you had a better than fifty percent chance of having teeth extracted in order to make space for all the rest to be straightened out. Although teeth were usually straight at the end, many times this resulted in less than ideal facial esthetics.
WHEN IS THE BEST AGE TO BE SEEN FOR AN ORTHODONTIC CONSULT?
Until recently most dentists and orthodontists agreed that patients should wait until all of their baby teeth were gone, and permanent teeth were in place before seeing the orthodontist. This practice, in part, contributed to the high percentage of patients who needed to have teeth extracted. By the time kids went to see the orthodontist, a lot of crowding was already present, and often extractions were the only way to correct the problem.
There are several advantages to beginning treatment at an early age. These include:
1. Reducing or eliminating the likelihood of extracting permanent teeth
2. Reducing or eliminating the necessity for Jaw Surgery in the teen years
3. Improving a young child`s self-esteem during the socially critical grade-school years
4. Reducing the incidence of wear or damage to protruding incisors
5. Greatly increased cooperation with orthodontic appliances when compared to teens
6. In most cases, treatment is completed well before High School
7. A better overall result since growth can be controlled for maximum esthetics
8. Bite problems can be addressed at a young age so that some patients who would not otherwise have been candidates for Invisalign can be treated that way as
teens.
The total time that a patient is in treatment is generally no longer than if braces were started at a later time. Children treated at a young age are completed in two shorter orthodontic phases as opposed to one longer one in the teenage years.
Although many kids can benefit from treatment in two phases, many of them do not need early treatment. We never charge for our initial consultation, so if you have any questions regarding whether early orthodontic treatment is right for your child, please call us to schedule an appointment today.
This poor esthetic result was not necessarily because of extractions, but more specifically because of inappropriate extractions. In a few cases, extracting teeth for orthodontics can actually help the profile, as when lips are too far forward to begin with, or when a patient has difficulty closing their lips due to large prominent teeth.
In most cases, however, orthodontics can be done without the need for any extractions at all. It may end up being a more technically difficult case, but by increasing the width of the dental arches (and the smile) instead of extracting teeth, facial balance and profile esthetics can be maintained or improved while simultaneously creating a fantastic, broad smile.
In summary, Dr. Wright`s philosophy about extractions can be summarized as follows:
Because it is inherently better to keep teeth than to lose them, every effort should be made to reduce the need to extract teeth, so long as facial esthetics is not compromised.
In recent years, a shift has occurred in orthodontics where children are being seen at much younger ages (7yrs to 11yrs) while the children still have many baby teeth present. The main reason for seeing children at this time is because this is the time kids are growing the most. And as a specialist not only in Orthodontics, but in Facial Orthopedics as well, Doctor Wright is specially trained to know how to use children`s natural growth and development to their advantage.
At earlier ages, faces and jaw structures can be modified as needed through specialized orthodontic techniques designed to increase the width of the dental arches, increase the size of the upper and lower jaws, and correct habits that can be detrimental to the normal, esthetic development of the growing face.
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