Exceptional Children’s Orthodontics in the Suburban Dallas-Fort Worth Area
At Stellar Smiles Ortho we believe that detecting and treating bite issues early is crucial for your loved one’s future. Our practice embraces new technology and helps children and teens achieve great results using state-of-the-art equipment.
When Should I Consider Taking My Child to See an Orthodontist?
As a parent, you want the best for your child, especially when it comes to their health. When it comes to their smile, many of us have heard the advice: “Wait until all their adult teeth come in before seeing an orthodontist.” Sounds logical, right? Well, here’s why this outdated advice might end up costing you—and your child—more than you think, in time, money and even pain!
The best time to correct dental issues is actually between the ages of 6 to 9.
Why 6 to 9? The short answer is that this age range is when your child’s jawbone is still very flexible. Once all of the baby teeth fall out and the adult teeth start to grow in, the jawbone hardens, and making adjustments becomes a lot harder (and more painful). That’s why taking action early can prevent many of the problems that could come later on.
Will it Get Better on Its Own?
If your child’s teeth are misaligned or showing signs of crowding, it’s crucial to address the issue early. Left untreated, these problems can worsen and require more drastic measures. If you still done believe me lets take a look at some actual patients of mine:
Take the example of Kiefer. His parents initially thought his deep bite would resolve on its own, but two years later, there was no change. This delay could have resulted in permanent teeth extractions or severe damage to his teeth later on.
Unfortunately, this isn’t a rare case. Let’s look at Adam, an adult, who waited too long. By the time he sought treatment, his teeth had been significantly damaged, looking like they had been through a weed-wacker! Early intervention could have spared him all of that.
Now, Devlen had a similar story. His parents also hoped his underbite would resolve on its own. After waiting a year with no change, the situation only got worse.
Here is an adult patient of mine who has an almost identical bite to Devlen. They tried to fix his bite and extracted teeth. That didn’t work so now he’s scheduled for corrective jaw surgery.
That could have been totally avoided with earlier intervention.
How Can An Orthodontist Help My Child?
For some children, orthodontic treatment might need to start as early as six years old, before the jawbones are fully developed. At this stage, Dr. J will have the chance to guide development and reduce the time spent wearing braces. It is also an opportunity to correct harmful oral habits that can make orthodontic treatment more complicated.
- Guide jaw growth to a better position
- Improve the way lips meet
- Improve appearance
- Lower the risk of trauma to protruded front teeth
- Correct harmful oral habits
Early or Interceptive treatment not only provides a visually pleasing smile but corrects issues that could otherwise lead to jaw problems, decay, and tooth loss, breathing issues, sleep disturbances, just to name a few. Children respond more quickly to orthodontics because treatments can take advantage of growth spurts, guiding development toward better alignment and symmetry.
Early Intervention Techniques to Give Your Children Their Best Smiles
With early intervention, your child can avoid wearing full braces in the future or reduce the time needed to achieve ideal correction with braces. However, braces are just one form of treatment. There are other treatments that can help enhance the symmetry of your child’s smile. Early special orthodontic appliances include:
- Space Maintainers
- Lower Lingual Arch Appliances
- Mouth Guards and Night Guards
- Retention Appliances
- Jaw Growth Correction Therapy
- Wideners/ Expanders
- Bite Plates
What Should I Expect When My Child Begins Orthodontic Treatment?
Orthodontic treatment is a predictable process to treat moderate to severe malocclusions (bad bites). It can correct overbites, crossbites (also know as x-bites), underbites, overcrowding, spacing just to name a few. The three major treatment stages include:
Stage 1
This is the planning stage. we provide your child with a free in-depth consultation. This consult includes digital photographs, digital panoramic x-ray, and an optional 3D scan for smile simulation. After examining your child’s condition, the Doctor will create a comprehensive plan leaving nothing uncovered.
Stage 2
Our orthodontist will recommend suitable orthodontic devices to help align the teeth gently. If your child qualifies, traditional braces, expanders, or even aligners may be prescribed depending on the specific goals that will custom match your child’s situation.
Stage 3
This is the last stage and it comes after treatment is completed. A customized retainer is used to secure teeth in place so they do not move back to their original positions. A retainer is a critical component to ensure the success of orthodontic treatment. The retainer is your insurance that your teeth will not shift.
For your child’s comfort and convenience, we offer Fixed Retainers and Upper and Lower removable retainers. The Upper and Lower removable retainers are digitally produced using a 3D scanner to create an initial 3D model, which is then created using a 3D printer. The 3D printed model is very durable, and usually, multiple retainers can be made from it. With a fixed (also called permanent) retainer a durable wire is glued to the backside of the teeth so it’s not visible. They are permanent and provide you with excellent results and a confident smile.
Orthodontic Treatment Designed for Comfort
Nowadays, many options exist that can make straightening teeth much more comfortable and more natural. At Stellar Smiles Ortho, we use the latest appliances and innovative technology. However, we make sure only to recommend the options that we know will work well for your specific case.
Traditional Braces
Traditional braces are highly effective for treating moderate to severe malocclusions (bad bites) for children six and older. Overbites, underbites, crossbites (also called x-bites), overcrowding and spacing can be corrected successfully. Treatment can take six to eighteetn months and requires regular visits to our office for adjustments. We will check to see that adequate pressure is applied to specific teeth, and all wires and brackets are in good condition. Developmentally, your child’s permanent teeth and jaw bones are ready to be aligned for optimal dental function and appearance.
We will determine if traditional braces are your child’s best option and will create your treatment plan. Dr. J will thoroughly explain all the necessary steps to help get you started. Some patients may require specific procedures before we start treatment, such as tooth extractions or other dental work. We will of course let you know to help you plan.
Technology Braces (iBraces)
Technology braces (iBraces), sometimes called self-ligating or intelligent braces, use unique and advanced technology to get results more quickly than traditional braces. The wires are lighter and use shape memory, so they don’t need tightening. With no elastics, this system reduces friction by using a sliding mechanism. Similar to traditional braces, technology braces still require you to come in for periodic adjustments. During these appointments, Dr. J will evaluate your progress, making necessary changes to ensure your teeth continue to move to their new positions.
Although technology braces are very similar to traditional braces, they do offer some advantages that their traditional counterparts don’t, such as:
- Easier to clean, brush, and floss teeth
- Less pain as the bracket is constantly supplying gentle force
- Smaller brackets tend to be more comfortable
- Shorter overall treatment time
Care Instructions for Braces
For children using traditional braces, these care instructions need to be followed to avoid damaging their brackets and wires:
- Avoid eating hard, chewy or sticky foods
- Avoid crunchy foods that require a lot of front-facing biting, like apples.
- Brush and floss more often than usual -every time you eat or snack.
- Purchase a mouthguard if you play sports. It should fit over the braces and they are called horseshoe shaped or u-shaped mouthguards.
Palatal Expanders
Expanders are fixed devices/appliances that gradually widen the bone in the upper and lower jaw when they are too small to hold all the developing and permanent teeth. We choose mini-screw expanders because they are much more comfortable for children as they are smaller. This helps a lot so it doesn’t affect the tongue and airway as much as a full sized adult expander.
What To Expect When Your Child Gets A Palate Expander?
It takes around four steps for the expanders to correct your child’s palate. Here is the process:
- Step 1: Spacers are inserted between the back molars to create enough space for the bands. These spacers are blue in color and our made of medical grade rubber. These are left in for about 2-3 weeks. Then you return and you have space for us to fit the metal bands around your molars. The metal bands will hold the expander in place.
- Step 2: With a digital scanner using a small wand we scan the inside of the whole mouth so we can get the best fitting expander. This digital technique causes no gagging or discomfort for kids. The expander is custom made to fit your child’s teeth exactly.
- Step 3: Once we glue the expanders in place, parents are instructed on how to use the key to continue expansion at home. The key is a small metal device that allows you to make the turns in the expander to make it work. Each turn widens the expander a little bit. Palate movement will continue in small intervals. It can be daily turns or weekly turns. Dr. J will advise you on the exact pace of treatment using the child expanders.
- Step 4: Once the palate is in the optimal position, the expander is left in place for an additional six months to secure the new position. The potential for relapse is high – so you don’t want to miss this part.
Affordable, Comfortable Treatments for Your Children’s Smile
At Stellar Smiles Ortho, we use the latest treatment methods with the most comfortable options available to help your child achieve excellent results with great comfort. You will discover that our prices and interest free payment plans are very reasonable, while adding the advantage of having your child treated under the excellent supervision of an experienced orthodontist.
We have office location in Grapevine. We are well-known across the Dallas/Fort Worth Area, including Tarrant County, Colleyville, Irving, North Richland Hills, Hurst, Euless, Coppell, and Bedford.
We are looking forward to meeting you and have you experience our relaxing, warm environment. You don’t have to choose only one of our locations for all your visits. Since our top-notch practice has all patient information on a shared server, all your treatment information will follow you to the location of your choice.
Boost your child’s confidence and give them the gift of an appealing symmetrical smile. Call our practice today and schedule your free consult.