Early Treatment

Parents often wonder if applying braces to their childrens' teeth at a younger age will help speed up the treatment process.

Like many procedures, the efficacy of early treatment can only be determined on a case by case basis. Dr. Atkinson has many years of experience in dealing with every sort of mouth development and restructuring issue, and is very willing to help you make an informed decision about the application of braces in your child's case. Here, Dr. Atkinson explains his understanding of early treatment options.

What is early treatment?

The terms ‘early treatment,’ ‘interceptive treatment,’ or ‘phase I treatment’ are all basically the same thing. This form of treatment is usually done when the child is 8 to 10 years old and will have 8-12 baby teeth present in the mouth.

Phase II treatment consists of fixed appliances (metal braces) and is usually done when the patient is older and all the baby teeth are gone and the permanent teeth are in the mouth. For girls, this is about 11 ½ years old and for boys about 12 ½ years of age on the average.

Are there drawbacks to early treatment?

Early treatment is great when it is indicated and appropriate. However, early treatment is not the cure-all that it is portrayed to be. Years ago, I did quite a bit of early treatment, trying to correct overbites and dental crowding.  My hope was to do about 8 to 12 months of early treatment (at about age 9 or 10), let the patient rest for a couple of years, and then follow up with metal braces for about 12 to 14 months.

However, what I discovered was that it was still taking about 20 months of the metal braces to finish aligning the teeth at age 12 to 13.  So, I could do two phases of treatment, taking 28-32 months, or I could be a little patient and do all the treatment in one step, taking about 24 months in the metal braces. 

Which was the better way?  Well, by just doing one phase of treatment, the parents saved money, the child had fewer hoops to jump through, and the results were basically the same. 

When does Dr. Atkinson recommend early treatment?

I love to see the kids about age 9 or 10 years old, or even younger if mom and dad have a concern about their child’s teeth.  I’d much rather be ahead of the game than behind.  The worst thing that can happen is that I turn the patient loose for  6 to 9 months, check on him periodically, and when he is a little older and ready for braces, start treatment. 

And of course,  there are instances where treating the patient at 9 or 10 works out great!  If all the upper teeth are too narrow (called a crossbite), 9 or 10 is a great time to correct this.  Sometimes a front tooth is stuck and won’t come down, or is sticking straight out – 9 or 10 is a great time to correct this.

So I firmly believe in early treatment.  It just needs to be used when it is truly indicated.

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