Get Proper Corrective Care for Your Child
There are times when children need to start their braces at a young age. In these instances, the child is in need of preventive or interceptive measures that will assist them in developing properly.
This process is called Two Phase Orthodontic Treatment and may help prevent future jaw or tooth related issues for your child. Most children do not require Two Phase Orthodontic Treatment, but a number of children have orthodontic problems which require a two-step approach.
The goal of Two Phase Orthodontic Treatment is to carefully monitor and correct the alignment of a child’s teeth at two different points in their developmental process.
By treating major issues earlier, the two phase treatment cuts down on the likelihood of potentially needing more difficult invasive treatment later. This creates a better experience for the child and results in a healthier set of teeth for the patient.
Phase One - Correcting the Major Problem
The first phase generally happens between the ages of seven and 10 years and focuses on making sure the child’s two jaws grow appropriately so that they can properly accommodate their adult teeth. Problems that require the first phase of treatment include:
- Excessive crowding or spacing
- Thumb or finger habit causing an open bite
- Crossbites causing the lower jaw to grow off to one side
- Any bite causing damage to gum tissue, the wearing down of enamel, or abnormal airflow
- Underbite or growth abnormality
- Abnormal eruption of teeth
Our doctors will provide Phase One treatments designed to address these problems and to encourage that your child’s jaws develop properly. The goal of the first phase is to hopefully prevent future issues that would require surgical intervention (ie. extraction of adult teeth or jaw surgery).
Once Phase One has been completed, the patient will go through a rest period, while we wait for the rest of the adult teeth to erupt.
Phase Two - Teeth Positioning
After the remainder of the child’s adult teeth have grown in, our doctors and staff will design a treatment plan to properly align the teeth. This typically involves the use of braces or Invisalign aligners, which will straighten the position the teeth over the course of roughly two years.
By the end of the second phase, the teeth will be perfectly aligned, giving the child a great bite and an excellent smile.
Over the course of Phase One and Phase Two Orthodontic Treatment, Dr. Brodsky and his staff will achieve the goals of correcting habits, realigning crooked jaws, and straightening teeth.
Please contact our office if you have any further questions regarding Two Phase Orthodontic Treatment - we will be happy to help you.
We treated this patient with two phases of orthodontic treatment.
Patient Before Phase 1
Patient After Phase 1
Patient After Phase 2