Dr. Thomas Christie and staff members will post thoughts and research information in this section. You will also hear from some parents who have experienced The Orthodontic Center in addition to adult patients.
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Early Treatment of Orthodontics
For many years, orthodontics waited until all of the permanent teeth were in to begin treatment of children. Many disadvantages were evident with this waiting, however. In many cases, permanent teeth needed to be removed in order to gain enough room to align the teeth properly. Because of this, facial profiles often became less attractive. Faces may have become “flat” in appearance; smiles could have shown too much gum tissue; lips could have become pencil thin rather than full and attractive; noses may have looked larger that they really were, etc.
As orthodontists, we have always had the option of treating early but in the past, long term advantages were minimal because our treatment basically amounted to holding or maintaining space. If the jaws were too small, there was not enough room for all the permanent teeth!
Because of my extensive research on the topic of early vs. later orthodontic treatment, our pracitce, The Orthodontic Center in Fairfield, Connecticut, has for the last 16 years used early treatment to not only hold space but to gain space. This has been accomplished through the use of accurate “Facial Print” growth predictions to maturity. Treatment is now planned from maturity for the rest of the child’s life.
Because of the effectivenes of the Facial Print technology, I recommend that children be seen for the first time at four or five years of age to check facial development and then in most cases, treatment doesn’t begin until the patient is six or seven years old.
For more information about the FACIAL PRINT, go to “How We Keep You Smiling” on this site or call us at The Orthodontic Center, 203.259.3341
Posted by Dr. Christie |
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