Reasons to See an Orthodontist At Any Age

An orthodontist is a doctor who specialized in straightening the teeth and with other issues of the jaw. While most people associate these professionals with treating children, all of these doctors are trained to work with patients of all ages. There are many reasons to consider taking your child to see this doctor or for scheduling a consultation for yourself.

When you think of an orthodontist, you often think of malocclusions, or crooked teeth, as being the reason behind an office visit, but there are many reasons that a visit may be scheduled. To begin, it is recommended that parents seek consultation for their children beyond the care of a general or pediatric dentist as soon as adult teeth begin to come in. This will help determine many issues that a child may be facing with the onset of his or her adult teeth beginning to come in.

The orthodontist is an expert in the area of growing mouths, and he or she can usually make accurate predictions concerning how a child’s teeth are growing in. There may be a spacing issue that if recognized early on can be approached with a few proactive choices. Pulling a few specific teeth first can help the others to gain space to go in a straighter fashion than if all of teeth were allowed to grow in a crowded mouth. This technique not only is helpful is warding off braces, but a jam packed mouth full of teeth can be hard to clean, and a few well planned extractions can allow better spacing and therefore a better ability to brush and floss thoroughly.
There are also some speech issues that can be corrected by a few strategic orthodontic moves. This theory may include braces, extractions, or surgery in an effort to align the mouth in order for the teeth, lips, tongue and jaws to work together properly to create needed sounds for spoken language.

These professionals are no strangers to adult patients. Some adults seek the advice of an orthodontist because they were unable to receive the services at a young age. Sometimes adults are prior recipients of braces, but for some reason the treatment began to reverse over the course of time. There are also so many new and modern options for teeth straightening these days that some adults are just now investigating the possibility of straight teeth due to more aesthetically pleasing or less noticeable braces options. Lingual braces, which are put on the backs of the teeth, and invisible options, are driving more and more older patients to first time consultations.