Early Evaluation Starts At 7 And Up
The American Association of Orthodontics recommends that children be seen as early as the age of 7, and for very good reason. Recognizing early problems before they can fester into a worsening condition is crucial to achieving optimal treatment outcomes for your child.
Because we feel these growth and guidance exams and continued monitoring are so important, we offer them free of charge! Only 10-15 % of children need early treatment, also known as Phase I treatment. Those that could benefit from early treatment will enter our Phase I Treatment Program, and the majority of those that are not yet ready for treatment will enter our All Smiles Kids Club!
All Smiles Kids Club- Let’s Grow Together!
Our Kids Club not only allows us to monitor your child’s jaw development and tooth eruption but also lets us grow our relationship with you and your family. These relationships with our families are the most rewarding part of our practice experience!
Once in our Kids Club, we monitor the continued growth and development of your child until they are either ready for treatment, or we all decide together that they are one of the lucky few who developed a beautiful smile all on their own. Either way, we perform this important service free of charge! Â
When they are ready for treatment, which is usually around the ages of 11-12 years old, we will have complete new records, and discuss our mutual goals and treatment options to develop a customized treatment plan. And of course, once they are ready, we can get started that same day, as they have already waited long enough to get started towards that milestone of a beautiful smile!
Interceptive/ Phase I Treatment
For those children that we have determined could benefit from early treatment to intercept developing problems, we perform Phase I treatment. Our goals for early treatment are to make sure that we harness the growth potential in our favor, as well as identifying and preventing problems from festering and becoming worse. The most common problems that require early Phase I treatments include:
Impacted Teeth
Impacted teeth with excessive crowding, which left untreated may require eventual unnecessary extractions that could have been prevented.
Crossbites
Crossbites, which can result in excessive tooth wear, bone loss, and recession, or permanent jaw and facial asymmetry.
Excessive Overbite
Excessive overjet (overbite), which if treated early may prevent or reduce the need for significant jaw surgery in later life. We all know that genetics determines the upper and lower limits of growth, and the environment will determine where we end up. With early intervention, All Smiles is that environmental factor to stimulate and maximize growth potential!
Once we have achieved our Phase I treatment goals, our patients will then be placed into our Kids club and continue our monitoring, (which is free of charge), until ready for the next and usually final phase of treatment. This final phase is known as Phase II treatment, for those patients that received a Phase I intervention.