What is Early Interceptive Orthodontic Treatment?
Early interceptive orthodontic treatment is the first phase of orthodontic treatment. They are essentially a preventive orthodontic treatment given to children between the ages of 6 and 10 years old. The treatment can prevent issues down the line that would normally require extensive treatment or surgery in the future.
Early interceptive orthodontics help make room in a child’s jaw for their adult teeth to erupt. It will also improve the relationship between the lower and upper jaws. In some cases, one jaw might be growing faster than the other. With early interceptive orthodontics, we can help them grow correctly to prevent dental trauma or the need for jaw surgery or extractions. Oftentimes, incorrect jaw growth can also lead to airway problems that can cause breathing disorders like sleep apnea. Early interceptive orthodontics can also address improper tongue position which can lead to speech problems. With early interceptive orthodontics, we can prevent all these problems from occurring.
HealthyStart™
One treatment option we provide our patients is HealthyStart™ appliances. The HealthyStart™ system begins by working with tooth eruptions. The removable device guides teeth into their perfect positions as they erupt. It can also correct alignment and growth in the lower jaw, expanding the arches to make room for incoming teeth, and help children develop correct oral health habits. HealthyStart™ uses three phases to correct teeth. The first phase corrects oral habits. The second phase guides incoming teeth and expands the arches for new teeth and the last phase helps the mouth accommodate final adult teeth.
Vivos
Another system we use at our dental office for early interceptive orthodontics is the Vivos system. Vivos focuses on resolving sleep apnea by addressing the obstructions of the airway. We can use different appliances to expand a patient’s palate, increase the size of the upper jaw or lower jaw, reposition the jaws, or even correct the airway’s structure. Vivo’s purpose is to establish a proper airway so the patient doesn’t suffer from sleep apnea or breathing problems. It can also correct development issues as a whole.
Benefits of Early Interceptive Orthodontics
Catching problems early on can benefit your child in a number of ways.
- Prevent the need for braces in the future
- Correct breathing issues such as sleep apnea
- Prevent serious problems from occurring
- Eliminate or reduce the need to extract permanent teeth
- Guide growth for facial symmetry
- Improve speech development
- Correct oral habits
- Reduce the risk of malocclusions
- Shorten or simplify future orthodontic treatments
If you would like to find out if your child could benefit from early interceptive orthodontics, please contact BKS Dental today to schedule a consultation. The sooner your child can visit us for a consultation, the sooner we can improve their development and prevent future problems from forming. Give us a call at (920) 563-7323 or book an appointment online to get started.
