It is advisable to visit an orthodontist at 6-8 years of age. Although at this age we only intervene when there are very specific problems, habits can be detected and stopped which may be prejudicial to the development of the mouth (teeth and bones).
Some bad habits are:
- Excessive use of the dummy.
- Sucking a finger
- Incorrect position of the tongue (infant or atypical deglutition).
- Oral respiration.
Sometimes the problem of a poor bite does not lie with the teeth, but with the bones that sustain them. These bones are the maxilla on the top half and the mandible on the lower half. If the size or the position of these bones do not remain in adequate relation to each other, the teeth will not slot together properly.
While there is growth we can act on these bones through orthopaedic treatments. Orthopaedic treatments have their limitations and can only be applied for a specific period of time; this is why early detection is so important.
Corrective orthodontics treat existing malocclusions. It is what is known as an orthodontic treatment, consisting basically of brackets which are attached to the teeth.
There are different types of brackets, different techniques and we try to incorporate, as soon as they are proved to be effective, all technical advances available in order to improve the quality of our treatments and reduce treatment time as much as possible.
