“I just wanted to see if now is the right time for my child to have an orthodontic consultation.” One of the most common phrases I hear from parents at new patient consultations for their children - no matter the age. Well, there’s a reason you scheduled this appointment, a concern maybe, or an abnormality you’ve noticed as of late. Or was it your astute general or pediatric dentist that recommended it and you’re looking for more information from us, the specialists.

I have a 15 month old and every single night I check his teeth, wrestling him in the process as I try to brush all 8 of them, rarely succeeding and more o en upsetting him. You’ve all been there before. But at some point children mature and it’s no longer “cool” or acceptable for mom and dad to brush their teeth. It’s around that same time you start to see baby teeth are falling out and permanent ones growing in, and that’s when it happens - something just doesn’t look right. “Was there something I could’ve done? Should I have noticed this sooner?” Well I’ll tell you, whatever it might be, it’s not the end of the world but now is the time to act. Schedule the appointment at the orthodontist and get some more information. It’s not a waste of time for you, and it sure isn’t a waste of time for us. As orthodontists, we value seeing patients at a young age whether or not they need to start treatment. At our office, we practice with integrity and trust, and if it isn’t the appropriate time to get started we place your child on a complimentary recall schedule to follow up at a future date.

Recommendations from the American Association of Orthodontics are to see the orthodontist at age 7 to evaluate how teeth are developing. Whether there’s a lot of crowding present and expanders are the ideal treatment, or maybe the permanent canines or “eye-teeth” aren’t erupting into the appropriate positions, or maybe, just maybe, every- thing looks good (at that moment in time). In the coming months, we will delve more into Phase 1 Orthodontic Treatment – Interceptive Therapy, and the ins and outs of getting started early, but for now just know that starting at a younger age can truly bene t your child in years to come. We see hundreds of early treatment patients per year and the results are exceptional. What we’ve been able to do time and time again is eliminate the need for extractions of permanent teeth because we intervened at the appropriate age or we used our vast and versatile armamentarium of orthodontic products including specialized braces.

By Dr. Keith Dobrin, DMD, MBA

As published in Ramsey Neighbors Magazine 2019